


Quiververse Bonus Reel

by WARendfeld



Series: Quiververse [14]
Category: My Little Pony: Equestria Girls, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-11-19
Updated: 2019-11-20
Packaged: 2021-02-13 00:50:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 19,878
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21485626
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WARendfeld/pseuds/WARendfeld
Summary: Every story, big and small, has some little thing that goes wrong during production, from a production gaffe to a misspoken line. Here's a glimpse at some of those incidences during production of the Quiververse, as well as some comments from those involved in bringing it all together, and a few small glimpses of what was different from canon before Twilight Sparkle ventured through the mirror.
Relationships: Bon Bon/Lyra Heartstrings
Series: Quiververse [14]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/402655
Kudos: 2





	1. Blooper Reel - Season One, Part One

**Author's Note:**

> This was first posted on April 1st, 2017. Happy April Fool's Day!

“So a few years ago, I find myself willed into existence. It’s kinda interesting, y’know? One second, I don’t exist, the next, I do. Not that I’m complaining, of course, existing is a lot better than not existing, but anyway, someone wanted to tell a story, and I was created as part of that story.” Quiver Quill rolled his eyes as he lifted a cup of juice. “At first, it was just going to be the one, but let me tell you, even the worst writers never have just one idea. And after I came along, more ideas came and one thing led to another.” He smiled and added, “Again, not complaining.” 

-  
“…Time went on, and… and this just goes on forever, doesn’t it? Where’s the dialogue? Where’s the action? This is all ‘mope, mope, woe is me, whiny emo’ crap and…”

“Cut!”

-

“And he could see it now, hear it now, the other ponies there laughing at him for his tears and his sorrow, his supervisors shaking their heads, and someone finally coming to him and telling him that he wouldn’t be an embarrassment to Amazing Booksellers anymore and…”

“Sir, are you alright?”

“Oh finally, almost fifteen hundred words in before we get some actual dialogue…”

As Twilight looked up with mild annoyance, the director’s voice yelled, “Cut!”

-

“It would take time, but Quiver Quill found himself back at work, both at Amazing Booksellers and on his prose, spurred on by their encouragement and hoping that someday, he’d meet them again. After all, they’d shown him kindness, and if there was one thing he’d wanted most, it was friends.” A pause, and the narrator remarked, “And if there’s one thing that I want, it’s to never do this again.” 

As the narrator stomped out in a very loud and clear manner, Quiver looked to the production crew and remarked, “Yeah, I don’t think he’s coming back.” 

-

“I’ve had nothing but surprises being a part of this series.” Sunset Shimmer leaned back in her chair as she amended, “Don’t get me wrong, these are nice surprises. I mean, I’m getting the chance to stretch my legs a little and do things that won’t happen in the animation, but still, surprises. I went into that first story with me thinking it’d be a one-shot and that would be that, but then we found out that my story and the first one the writer did would be part of the same storyline, and that I’d have more stories…” She laughed and added, “And don’t even get me started on how the comics ended up lending credence to our plot device.” A sigh as she laid her hands together in her lap. “Now if only I could get a little more of what I got in this in the official stuff.” 

-

“…and action!”

“MAGIC POR–oof!” Pinkie Pie stumbled and fell forward as she burst through the portal into the bridge realm, and landed hard on her face. “Owww, my boobs!”

“Cut!”

-

“You’re not gonna find a single one of us who doesn’t think doing this series has been a lot of fun.”

“I’ll second that!” The pink-haired human took on an embarrassed smile as she admitted, “Even if I flubbed it a little here and there.”

“Aww.” Pinkie Pie patted her human counterpart upon the shoulder. “It’s okay, Pinkie. I flub sometimes too. But at least we can laugh about it, right?”

A smile broke out upon the girl’s face. “Yeah, we can.” 

-

“MAGIC POR-ohohwhoa!” Pinkie Pie stumbled again, this time slipping backwards and falling onto her rear end. “Owww, right in the padding!”

“Cut!”

-

“MAGIC PORTAL!” Pinkie Pie made a perfect landing and beamed gleefully, before she blinked and remarked, “Shoot, I forgot my line.” 

“Cut!”

-

“I was as surprised as anypony that my solo story got moved up in the production schedule.” Sunrunner leaned back in her chair as she shook her head. “Just as surprised that we ended up going back for reshoots. They weren’t a bad thing, though. The story got a lot better, and the way the second version ended up actually opened a lot more story possibilities for me.” She sighed as she studied the drink in her hoof. “Now if only I could get another solo story out.”

-

“But with all due respect, ma’am, we don’t have anything more to talk about.” Sunrunner then took hold of the forms in her teeth and attempted to rip them to shreds, only to find the paper refusing to budge. 

Spitfire smirked and asked, “You sure you want to quit?”

The flame-maned mare spat out the forms and asked, “What kind of paper is this, the sort that they use for phone books?”

-

“It’s been an absolutely fabulous time during production, and a complete treat as well.” Rarity looked to the elegant unicorn at her side and remarked, “After all, I rarely get the chance to work with so brilliant a mare as this.” 

A well-manicured hoof was dismissively waved towards her. “Oh hush, dear, you’re no slouch in terms of fabulousness yourself.” She then turned back to the interviewer and noted, “I will admit, however, to being a little frustrated at the odd reshoot, particularly with ‘Six Nights’. We went through all the trouble of learning our lines for that final part, and lo and behold, the whole thing gets redone. I just hope that we can salvage it somewhere.” 

“Well, something of that sort did happen, dear.” Rarity turned thoughtful and noted, “At least, I hope so.” 

-

“So aside from the jacket and backpack, you’ve been without any connection to your home for the last thirty months.” Rarity wrapped an arm around the girl. “I’m sorry, darling.” 

Sunset smiled and picked up her backpack. “Well, I didn’t lose everything. I brought a lot of crap with me.” She opened it and revealed a number of items. “I brought these…” She fished out a number of sparkling gemstones and dropped them into the other girl’s lap. “…And these…” She pulled out several books and put them at her side. “And…” She pulled out something large, fluffy, pink and warm, and jaw-dropped in surprise. “How’d you get in there?”

Fluffle Puff simply blinked her big blue pony eyes and remarked, “Pftthpbt.”

-

“Honestly, I don’t see the appeal of this series in the slightest.” As Fluffle Puff lapped at a cup of milk beside her, Queen Chrysalis glowered and continued, “It doesn’t even have me in it. Not yet, anyway. I get the feeling the only reason the two of us are here is just to assuage my ego.” 

“Pftthpbt?”

The changeling queen gave her fluffy friend a pat upon her head. “I’m sure the author likes you, Fluffles. It’s me he has issues with.” She rolled her eyes. “Honestly, doesn’t he know talent when he sees it?” She then sighed and noted, “Anyway, I know that he’ll get to me eventually, but something tells me he won’t do me justice.” A fanged grin appeared upon her face. “His problem, not mine.” 

-

The instant she’d stepped into the small house’s kitchen, hoping to make herself a quiet cup of tea, she froze, her eyes locked on Pinkie’s older sister. Maud noticed her and turned, a blank expression on her face and a very large, very sharp knife in one hand. 

“Someone break in?” Sunset casually asked.

“No, I just like holding up knives like this,” Maud droned in response. 

Pinkie’s head immediately emerged from a cabinet as she sang, “ER-LIE IN THA’ MOR-NING!”

-

“Tell ya’ll the truth, Ah was glad ta know this storyline was continuin’, even if it meant Ah’d still pretty much be stuck in the background.” The orange pony gestured towards the human beside her and noted, “Kinda feels like this one gets more attention than Ah do, if’n you know what Ah mean.” 

Applejack rolled her eyes. “Very funny comin’ from a gal who was childhood friends with a pop star.” The two shared a teasing grin before the human farmgirl continued, “Still, we seem to be able to do stuff that the animation ain’t, for one reason or another. Fer the life a’ me, Ah still can’t picture what Sunset’s place looks like in the series proper.” 

“They’ll get to it when they need to, darlin’.” The pony smirked and noted, “Jes’ ask mah kinfolk.” 

-

The two were greeted to the sight of Sunset kneeling down on the ground, laughing heartily as a large black dog gleefully licked at her face. She turned away and laughed, “Hi girls! Give me a second, I’ve got an oversized puppy here who isn’t quite…whoa!” As Fluttershy and Applejack did their best to stifle their laughter, Sunset lost her balance and sprawled out on her back as the dog continued to lick at her unhindered. Despite this, she couldn’t help but laugh. “Someone get a changeling, they’re missing the buffet!” 

“Cut!”

-

“It’s actually kinda nice to be able to take a step back and let others have the spotlight a little.” Spike at her side, Twilight had a relaxed look on her face as she admitted, “Not every story has to be about me, thankfully.”

“At least the stories about you are actually pretty good.” The dragon took a second to grouse, “And you don’t turn into a dog for some of them.”

The alicorn smirked. “You just miss the belly rubs.” 

“No!” The protest subsided slightly as he added, “Maybe, a little…”

She hugged him and added, “Regardless, I’ve got a hard time seeing a story where Spike isn’t with me. It’s less fun that way, and besides, someone has to show him how things are done.” 

-

“Okay, explain it to me again.” 

Twilight Sparkle laughed as she gestured upwards with a hoof, her wings drawn tight against her sides. “Tonight’s lunar phase is called a ‘waxing crescent’. Sometime next week, it’ll be a half-moon, and then it’ll phase into a ‘waxing gibbon’, and then…” She then realized her mistake and laughed. “Oh my gosh, I’m so sorry! Let me try it again!”

The little dragon snorted and cackled, “Now that’s an image for you!” 

-

“I’m actually glad for the role I’ve gotten in this storyline.” Seventh Moon actually looked comfortable as he sipped from a bottle of water, slight hints of a smile upon his grey muzzle. “In the comics themselves I’m little more than a cameo, an Easter egg for the fans that Mr. Price likes to sneak in when he can. I only got dialogue because a script came up short. I didn’t even get a proper name. But the wonderful thing about fanfiction is that a writer can take something small and build upon it.” The smile grew bigger as he added, “And if I show up once, statistically, I stand a good chance of showing up again.”

An elegant mare strode past behind him, her curly mane bouncing with each step as she teasingly remarked, “Spoilers.”

-

Her friends’ murmurs of agreement ended as the stallion spoke. “I have been watching you and your friends’ exploits for some time, Twilight Sparkle.” The stallion removed his hat and bowed politely. “My name is Seventh Moon. I am a reference to another franchise dealing with alternate universes.” He replaced his hat and then pulled out a notepad and pen from his suit. “I’m also a fan. Can I have an autograph?”

-

“In some ways, I think this storyline has been very good for us.” 

The alicorn princess looked to her human counterpart and raised an eyebrow. “Some? It’s been very good for us. I’ve actually had some time on-screen to show proper relationships with Luna, Twilight and Sunset, I’ve had development, my flaws are actually addressed, and I get to do more than get beaten down to show how powerful the new threat is.” She smiled and added, “And you haven’t fared too badly either.” 

“Aside from being a prime example of Adults Are Useless, you mean,” Celestia sardonically replied. 

The alicorn paused at that. “Ah. True. You’re probably going to see some trouble for that.”

-

At least, initially, as a knock sounded from her door. It creaked open as she went to answer it, and she smiled with relief as she looked upon her visitor. “Hello Principal Celestia.” 

“You don’t need to call me by my title off school grounds, Sunset.” Celestia smiled warmly in turn, then looked a bit disappointed. “I suppose it was a little too much to hope that you’d…” She stopped as she felt something bump into the top of her head. 

She looked up to find a boom mike being hurriedly moved back up as a voice called, “Sorry, my bad!”

She cracked a smirk in response and asked, “Are you sure it isn’t my fault for being so damn tall?”

Sunset visibly fought to keep from laughing as the director yelled “Cut!”

-

“Well, it was only natural that I ended up finding myself involved in this storyline, given the events we’ve adapted and that we’re going to adapt.” Discord paused. “Oh, I’m sorry, was that a spoiler? I thought it was fairly obvious what we were going to do, given everything with the Tree. Different path, of course, but roughly the same destination. And who knows? I might get up to a little fun along the way.” 

-

“Girls, look!” Terror clear in her green eyes, Roseluck pointed skywards with a hoof and declared what was already clear as day, “The sun and moon are out at the same time! It’s day and night!”

“Worse!” Lily Valley directed their attention to another problem in the sky. “There are nasty-looking black clouds in the sky!” A flight of pegasi attempted to beat the clouds off, only to be pelted with lightning bolts or find themselves caught on the clouds’ thorn-like spikes. “And the Weather Team can’t get rid of them!”

“Even worse!” Flower Wishes, or Daisy as she was more commonly known, turned their attention earthward as thorny black vines sprouted up from the ground all around them. “We’re giving this horribly clumsy exposition, and I forgot my line! The horror! THE HORROR!” 

-

“I like the fact that we’ve gotten some sweet moments so far in the storyline.” Fluttershy paused from cuddling with her pegasus counterpart and noted, “At least, I think that I’ve gotten some sweet moments.” 

“Oh, we’ve definitely gotten some sweet moments. And thankfully, there were plenty of others to go around.” The pegasus smiled happily and added, “And more to come.”

-

It didn’t take long for her to find the source of the cries. A mess of books and party supplies and even the odd pet toy strewn on the floor before him was a stallion, closer in age to her brother Shining Armor than her, with a light tan coat and a slightly messy brown mane. He’d collapsed to the ground, a cart between him and the shelving unit suggesting some accident, but that wasn’t what caught Twilight’s attention the most about the scene. It was the fact that the stallion, while showing no sign of physical injury, was in the midst of tears, a sight that prompted further concern. She wasn’t sure what she could do to help as she approached the stallion, but she’d do her best. “Sir, are you alright?”

The stallion stopped, and looked up at her with deep brown eyes, surprise clear in them but quickly overtaken by sorrow as he sobbed an answer. “No! I’m not alright! I’m a failure! A screw up! I can’t do a single…!”

Quiver was interrupted as a familiar fluffy pink pony popped out of the bin behind him, took one look at him, gasped, and then pulled him into a warm hug. He then grinned like an idiot and hugged her back. 

“So warm and snuggly…”

A warm grin formed on Twilight’s face as she cooed at the sight. “Awww…”

-

“This series has been an absolute joy for both of us!” The Princess of the Night gleefully hugged her human counterpart as she elaborated, “Not only am I seeing logical development based upon the animation, but thanks to this, we can retcon away the worst implications of my counterpart’s portrayal.” 

Luna sighed. “I would have had to have been a massive idiot to not see Sunset’s ploy for what it was in the first film. Thanks to the events of this series, I come across as a bit less useless. As I should be.” She turned glum and added, “Celestia, unfortunately…”

The alicorn gently shook her head. “No story is perfect, alas.” 

-

“About anything in particular?” The pale blue girl strode forward with a smirk. “Certain MyStable posts, perhaps?”

“I had nothing…”

“Oh spare me!” Trixie dramatically pointed a finger into Sunset’s direction, only to sharply connect with the other girl’s nose. As Sunset pulled back in surprise, the blue girl gasped. “Oh my gosh, I’m so sorry! I didn’t scratch you, did I?”

“Cut!”

-

“Okay, honest truth, but I don’t think any of us was really happy with how things went with that holiday story.”

“You kidding?” The pegasus at her side was animated as she elaborated, “That thing was a small train wreck! We might’ve screwed up in the series, yeah, but at least the screw ups weren’t as forced!”

Rainbow Dash moved back into a comfortable position as she continued, “Anyway, I’m just glad a few extra scenes were added in to help tone things down. Plus the next story helped to patch things over.”

“You guys taking Sunset out to eat after you did that bit where you all turned on her was a good thing too.” 

“Yeah, but something tells me that won’t be the end of it.” 

-

“Alright then, first question! Name me one of Newton’s Three Laws of Motion!” A hand shot up from each student, and he called out, “Mister Snipsy-Snap again!”

“An object in motion will stay in motion unless it’s acted upon by an outside force!”

“Correctamundo! One down, nineteen to go! And another, Mister…Snailsquirm!” He made an expression that made obvious his disbelief at Snails’ name and asked, “Who comes up with these names, lawyers?”

-

“One good thing about appearing in this series is that I actually get to be a character, y’know?”

“Dude, compared to me, you already were a character.” The orange pegasus groaned. “I get a couple cameos in the series, but you at least show up in each of the movies. Plus you got toys.”

Flash Sentry sighed. “That’s what I get for being a male character in a show geared towards little girls.” He straightened up and added, “Still, even compared to the animation, I get more to do. I actually feel like a part of the story, instead of just someone the story happens to.” 

“Kinda wish we hadn’t gotten a crappy backstory though.” 

“Hey, it got better! And it fits with our characterization thus far, so it’s not like it’s right out of left field, right?” Flash looked to the interviewer and asked, “Right?”

-

Fluttershy then squeaked in surprise as she felt a warm embrace about her. She looked to find that Doctor Hope had given her the hug. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t…”

“BAD TOUCH! BAD TOUCH!”

The director’s voice was clearly furious as he shouted, “Pinkie Pie!”

-

“I’ll be the first to admit, I wasn’t happy about getting left out of the movie.” Shining Armor sat beside his wife as he continued, “I mean, yeah, I understand that it was Twilight’s movie, but I could have at least put in a token appearance.”

“Really, Shiny?” Cadance put on a teasing grin. “You just wish that you’d been there to glare at Flash.”

“I wouldn’t have glared at him.” The red in the stallion’s face suggested otherwise, though he quickly cooled down. “Anyway, me showing up in-story lampshading things did help, and I’m looking forward to popping up in the future.” He rolled his eyes and noted, “Even if all I’m going to do is get Worfed.” 

The alicorn gently punched her husband. “I go through that too, remember?”

“Yeah, but you still get to be amazing anyway.” 

A grin formed on Cadance’s face as she nuzzled her husband. “Charmer.” 

-

Fluttershy looked up in terror and whispered, “What did we do? What can we–?”

“SUNSET!” Attention turned to Pinkie Pie as she screamed, “SUNSET! YOU WERE THE GREATEST MARE I EVER KNEW! YOU WILL BE AVENGED! I WILL ASSEMBLE THE AVENGERS, AND THEN _YOU_ WILL BE _AVENGED_!”

“Pinkie, she’s not dead!” A beat, and Rainbow Dash added, “And that’s not how the quote goes!”

“Well it’s how it should’ve gone! It would’ve been funnier that way!”

-

“Really, I’m just glad us background ponies are getting equal billing to the regulars in this. It’s always nice to know that you’re loved.” Derpy grinned and waved to the camera as she finished, “So thanks everyone! See you again soon!”


	2. Q&A, Part One

The vast soundstage reverberated with the sounds of friendly chatter and pleased laughter from those gathered within it, familiar ponies and humans grouped together on a number of chairs, cushions and the odd sofa. Just apart from all of them with a bottle of water held in one arm of his folding chair was Quiver Quill. He took a second to look over a number of cards on a nearby music stand before calling out, “Okay everyone, we ready to get this Q and A session underway?”

A general chorus of agreement rang out, with the human and pony versions of Rainbow Dash being especially vocal. “Bring it!”

“Oh, I’m almost literally beside myself with excitement!” The two Rarities giggled to themselves at the mare’s remark before she prompted, “Come along, darling, let’s start these questions off.”

“Alright then!” The stallion looked to the stand and began reading. “This first batch of questions comes from Final Legend Zero, and is primarily for the ponies among us. First one is for the Ponyville branch of the Apple family. ‘Back in Season 2 of the show, it was established that, in addition to apple trees, you also grow corn on your farm. Is that also a cash crop for you, or is it for your own consumption?'”

“Dang, we got us an easy one.” As her siblings laughed amongst themselves, Applejack sat up and answered, “We grow plenty a’ things at Sweet Apple Acres aside from apples, corn included. They ain’t a cash crop, though. They’re mostly fer our eatin’ and fer the livestock we raise, the pigs ‘n chickens.”

“Mostly the chickens, though.” Granny Smith smoothly rocked back and forth in her chair as she noted, “Pigs’ll eat jes’ about anythin’, after all. Still, ah’ll be the first ta’ admit, we don’t eat apples and nuthin’ but apples. We’d get sick of ‘em otherwise.”

Quiver managed a shrug. “Sounds about right, if you consider my dad’s cooking.” He then shuffled through the sheets and noted, “Next are questions for Rainbow Dash.”

The prismatic-maned pegasus cackled gleefully. “Awesome! Lay ‘em on me!”

“First he asks, ‘Just how fast do you need to fly in order to trigger a Sonic Rainboom? And is pulling it off a matter of pure speed, or is there some magical component to it?'”

“Oh yeah.” She turned nervous and admitted, “Tell you the truth, I really don’t know all the eggheady stuff for that. Twilight did some work on it and tried to explain it, but it kinda went over my head. I definitely broke the sound barrier when I did it, though.”

“Based on my math, the minimum threshold for a Sonic Rainboom is Mach One; you can see a Mach cone form whenever she pulls one off. But there’s a lot more to it than just sheer speed; there’s a magical component to it as well.” Twilight looked to Rainbow Dash and noted, “I like to think that you being able to do it is tied into your status as the bearer of the Element of Loyalty, considering the first two times you performed it were for the sake of your friends rather than yourself. Otherwise, the Wonderbolts would be pulling them off at every show they put on instead of just talking about them in the handbook.”

“Considering recent experiences, loyalty might well be in short supply with their organization.” Rarity regarded her hooves with mixed feelings as she remarked, “A shame the same doesn’t go for glass jaws.”

Sunrunner politely hid her muzzle at that remark as Quiver continued, “Last question for Dash. ‘Also, if it isn’t too much of a sore spot for you, could you share whether there was any fallout over…’” He narrowed his eyes as he gazed upon his friends and finished, “‘…over the Mare-Do-Well incident that we didn’t see in the episode?'”

The collected bearers all looked horribly sheepish at that question, though Dash looked the least sheepish. “Yeah, not a good moment for any of us.” She tried her best to look as small as possible as she noted, “I mean, yeah, I was getting a big head, I get that…”

“But that hardly changes the fact that the actions taken were beyond the pale.” Luna regarded one hoof and noted, “I’m afraid that we cannot elaborate too much, as there are spoilers involved, but suffice it to say that there have been some repercussions for that incident which have yet to be explored.”

“And that it’s taken a while for most of the hurt to go away.” The pegasus shrugged. “And a lot of other things happening besides.”

“Well, here’s hoping history doesn’t repeat.” Quiver went to the next question. “Okay, moving on. Questions for Pinkie Pie.” The party pony turned gleeful as he continued, “Okay, first one. ‘Since it’s been established that sixth senses run in your family, can anyone else in your family also see past the fourth wall, or is it just you?’”

“Oh, it’s just me and my sisters, but I think I’m the one who gets the most use out of hers. Limestone only really gets hers triggered whenever somepony does something on the farm she doesn’t approve of, and Maud’s tends to apply whenever any of us gets hurt or put in immediate danger.” She rubbed her chin and noted, “Marble’s, though…well, she kinda promised me not to talk about it until she was ready.”

Quiver nodded. “Moving onto the second question then. ‘Regarding your party cave, is the slide the only way in or out? Or is there an alternate way out for anyone who might accidentally stumble upon it and lack your physics-defying capabilities?’”

“Oh, there’s definitely an alternate way in and out!” Pinkie grinned as she held up a set of blueprints depicting Sugar Cube Corner and pointed to the section marked ‘Party Cave’. “Y’see, when I put the party cave together, I carved it out from beneath the building’s already-existing storm cellar! There’s a small, out-of-the-way staircase leading up to the cellar proper, and that in turn has a staircase leading up into Sugar Cube Corner!” She looked to her friends and noted, “I gotta show it to you guys before too long, just in case I need help with a future party.”

“Nice feat of engineering there, Pinkie.”

A shrug. “I might not be a rock farmer by trade, but I know a thing or two about reinforcing a foundation. Plus I consulted a few ponies who worked in construction.”

“Works for me.” Quiver grinned as he went on to the next question. “Alright, these next questions are for Fluttershy.”

“Me?” The yellow pegasus took a nervous gulp before straightening herself out. “Okay, I think I can answer a few questions.”

“Take your time.” The stallion’s gaze moved to the question before him as he read it aloud. “‘First, something that’s bugged me since Season 1. I know that your job involves taking care of animals. But what, exactly, is your job? What is it you do that you’re being paid for, and who is it that’s paying you?’”

“Oh!” Suddenly much more at ease, Fluttershy smiled and explained, “Well, the town officially has me on staff as a wildlife conservation officer. Not only am I helping to conserve local habitats for the ponies in Ponyville, but I also get to look after the local animal populations and aid other creatures, both sapient and non-sapient. It’s a big job, but I enjoy it.” She beamed and giggled as she added, “And being able to talk to all the cute little critters helps so much.”

“That’s also why Fluttershy was the one in charge when the Breezies passed through Ponyville.” Twilight paused. “Will pass through Ponyville.” She frowned and slumped. “I hate it when I have tense trouble.”

A light laugh echoed around the group before Quiver continued, “Alright, we’ve still got more for Fluttershy here. ‘On a different note, since the show is quite inconsistent regarding the details, I have some questions about your Stare. First, what exactly is it? Is it just a very intimidating glare, or is there some mind control component to it? If the latter, then does it work on sapient creatures? And is it completely involuntary, or are you able to use it at will? Or is it that you can only use it in certain scenarios, but you control whether you use it in said scenarios?'”

“Oh dear…” Her anxieties came right back to the surface as Fluttershy considered her answer. “Truthfully, I don’t know the full truth about my Stare. I only really came to be aware of it as I got older and gained more confidence in myself, specifically after I received my Cutie Mark. The closest I’ve ever found to a non-unicorn or non-alicorn performing something like it are some old stories about thestrals.”

“There are tales of old where thestrals are said to have hypnotic powers,” Luna explained. “There is truth to the myths, but such powers are rare; I’ve yet to meet a thestral with such talents in the modern era, with Fluttershy coming closest to what the stories describe.”

“It works by triggering a fear response in those who experience it, at least with non-sapient creatures. With fully sapient ones, it triggers a guilt response, usually in combination with what I say. It’s not completely involuntary, but whether or not I can use it depends entirely upon my mental state at the time. It takes a fair amount of willpower to use successfully, and even then, it can fail if the creature isn’t sufficiently frightened or the sapient being has no sense of guilt for their actions.” She quietly amended, “That’s why it didn’t work on Discord at first. No guilt for his actions. But he’s getting better about that.”

“One can only hope. Next question, this time for Princess Celestia and Princess Cadance.” Quiver took a second to clear his throat before he read out the query. “‘What, exactly, is the Crystal Empire’s status in relation to Equestria? Is it an allied nation? A vassal state? A province of Equestria? Also, why is it called an empire if it only consists of one city?’”

Celestia smiled. “The Crystal Empire was one of the founding provinces of Equestria, though the Empire itself predates the founding of Equestria by several years. The name was initially part of an effort by Princess Amore to discourage invasion, at least until she or those working with her could conceive of better means to defend the Empire beyond the Crystal Heart and psychological deterrents.”

“Ya’ll gotta admit, callin’ somethin’ an ‘empire’ sounds a whole lot more impressive than callin’ somethin’ a ‘kingdom’, even if it’s misleadin’.” Applejack rubbed her chin thoughtfully and admitted, “Mind you, if’n it hadn’t become part of Equestria, then once she was of age, Amore would’ve been forced to call herself an ‘empress’. Becomin’ part of a bigger nation was probably a relief for her in more ways than one.”

“I’m glad that she did myself. I’m fine with the title of ‘princess’, but being called ‘Empress Cadenza’ would be way too much for me.” Cadance maintained a sheepish look even as she continued eating her tub of ice cream.

Quiver opted to move on from that comment as swiftly as possible. “Alright then, now we’ve got questions for Twilight.” He looked to her and read off, “‘This is probably a sensitive topic for you, but if you’re up to it, I have a couple questions about the Smarty Pants incident. First, from where or from whom did you learn the Want-It-Need-It Spell?’”

The young princess suddenly turned pale, then shrank down in embarrassment. “Oh dear…”

Celestia subtly cleared her throat. “Twilight learned the spell from me. In fact, any mental manipulation spell she might be aware of is because I either told her where to find it or taught it to her myself, for the purposes of being able to undo the spell. That she didn’t undo it herself is an indicator of how panicked she was at the time.” She looked to Twilight and said, “Very unneeded panic, but given how I seemed to breed anxiety after anxiety into her as time passed in the official version of events, perhaps that wasn’t surprising. And the second question?”

“‘Second, after you…’” Quiver turned uncomfortable as he looked upon Twilight. “Well, after the spell was cast on the Smarty Pants doll, Twilight commented that the spell ‘works every time’. Direct quote. ‘How, exactly, have you established that?’”

Twilight managed an embarrassed squeak. “I tested it with non-sapient animals. That time in Ponyville was the first and only time that I used it on sapient beings, I promise.”

A yellow wing found itself draped over her form as Fluttershy comforted her. “It’s alright, Twilight. We know you feel bad about it. But I hope that you’ve never done it since.” At the shaking of her friend’s head, she smiled. “Good.”

“I’ll second that. Anyway, one last question for you. ‘What is the relationship between Twilight and Spike in this AU’?”

“Kinda obvious, isn’t it?” Spike wrapped a claw around one of Twilight’s hooves as he noted, “Twilight’s like a big sister to me, even if it isn’t official.”

A wing was wrapped around him in return as Twilight assured him, “And you’re definitely a little brother to me, Spike.”

“One last question from Final Legend Zero, a question for Celestia and Luna now. ‘In the show, even now, Celestia is the only one who has a throne in Canterlot Palace. Is this the state of affairs in the Quiververse as well, or does Luna have a throne there as well?’”

“I like this reader.” Luna smirked at her sister and noted, “They ask the important questions.”

Celestia smirked right back. “Indeed they do.” It faded to a polite smile as the elder alicorn elaborated. “The palace is currently undergoing some minor renovations in order to include a new throne for Luna, to more properly reflect her status as my equal in affairs of state. They would have been done much sooner, but budgeting the necessary funding was not easy.”

“Attempting to wrangle something out of the government is difficult even for us, unfortunately.” The younger of the two sisters frowned as she groused, “It took the recent invasion by changelings for them to even consider our recent proposals to increase military spending and expand the Royal Guard, and even that has gone slowly, despite Equestria having another province in need of defending in addition to several threats to its national security within the last year.”

“And that’s ignoring all of the idiots who either think that we don’t need a military or that we shouldn’t have one or that what we’ve got is enough.” Quiver groaned. “Sorry, but the more I see in the press like that despite all the evidence to the contrary…”

Celestia smiled gently. “We understand. Now, I understand that there were others that had questions?”

“Yes. I also have questions from diablo4000, though not as many.” Quiver looked to the cards and read off. “First question is to Sunset. ‘What are your thoughts on the Anon-A-Miss plot? A lot of people complain about it and everyone being so out of character, though some say it’s because the timing was bad. If placed before Rainbow Rocks, it would’ve made more sense.’”

Groans of varying levels sounded out among the Rainbooms. The human Rarity rubbed her temples and wondered aloud, “That story is going to be an albatross about our necks for the rest of our lives, isn’t it?”

“Easy, Rarity.” Sunset sat up and answered, “A story like that was probably inevitable. How the story was executed, however, is probably the biggest problem people have with it. Bullying in general, and that includes cyberbullying, is something that does need attention paid to it, but the way the story handled things was poor. About the only good thing that I can say about it is that it did help to paint me in a sympathetic light.” She smirked and added, “But yes, if it had taken place before ‘Rainbow Rocks’, it would have made far more sense. Hence why our version was placed there.”

“As the author’s explained again and again and again…” Quiver groaned again. “And for Principal Celestia, ‘Are you happy being in a role where you’re able to help out the characters more? Such as getting a certain therapist’s help in the story?’”

“Yes, very much so.” The principal sighed and admitted, “The official materials have done a lot to paint me, Luna and other authority figures in the human-based stories as being useless, whether by accident or on purpose. Being able to avert that and actively help out, hell, actually having something to do in the story, is a good thing for me. I only wish that I’d been more effective at it in this version, but alas…” She shrugged. “And it was good to get said therapist into the story.”

“Especially for said therapist,” Radiant Hope noted with a grin. “Being part of this story has been wonderful for me, especially given the promises of things to come, and I’m looking forward to more.”

“Well, that answered the next question.” Quiver moved onto another and said, “Now, for the CMC, ‘do you find it difficult to play the story of Anon-A-Miss and its aftermath? How are you handling it?’”

The human Crusaders were nestled with their counterparts, and all of them looked nervous, Apple Bloom most of all. “Yeah, that story ain’t a proud moment fer us neither. But no, it wasn’t easy fer us to play.”

“Yeah, believe it or not, we get on great with Sunset off the set.” Scootaloo gave the fire-haired girl an encouraging smile. “Really made our apology scene easy to play.”

“And hopefully we never have to do anything like that again.” Sweetie Belle looked about anxiously, then asked, “Anyone see the ‘spoilers’ lady?”

General responses in the negative answered her as Quiver moved to another question. “Okay, last one. For the Rainbooms, the CMCs, Flash Sentry, Principal Celestia, Vice Principal Luna, and their counterparts. Have any of you read any of the fanfics based on the Anon-A-Miss story?” He looked up and said, “And that’s paraphrasing.”

Another chorus of negative responses sounded off as Vice Principal Luna explained, “I can safely say that none of us have read any of the other Anon-A-Miss fanfics out there, though I imagine some are probably very good.”

“Partly we’re tryin’ to avoid spoilers, partly it’s because they ain’t our universe,” the human Applejack explained. “And that’s ignorin’ how busy we are to begin with. Plus, Ah don’t think any of us are eager to relive anythin’ associated with that story.”

Agreement sounded among them, and Quiver went to one last card. “Okay, finally, we have one question from RQK. ‘To any and all ponies that would like to answer this, what are your thoughts on that strange mare you saw? Furthermore, what about that second Twilight? In this instance with the Nightmare, she seemed to insinuate that you might have otherwise failed had she not stepped in. How does that make you feel? How does the prospect of having failed in some other instance of these events feel to you?’”

“Well, it obviously was not only ponies who saw Crystal Faire or the second Twilight, but I think we all understand what is meant by the question.” Murmured agreement chorused around her as Princess Luna continued, “I think we can all agree that their presence was a welcome one, though I’m not pleased at the notion that we would have failed without her assistance.”

“I know I’m not.” Twilight’s head hung low in shame as she admitted, “I like to think we would have won either way, but…”

“But there’s no way to know, and it’s just as well we don’t have to find out.” Sunset gave Twilight a comforting hug. “But I like to think that her presence turned a fifty-fifty chance of survival into a certain chance of survival.”

The human Applejack grinned. “Ask me to choose between either of those odds, and Ah’ll take the second one any day.”

“No argument from me.” Quiver put aside the questions. “Well, that’s it for now. Here’s hoping that future ones are just as illuminating…” He gave Twilight an apologetic look and noted, “And maybe less painful.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My thanks to those who submitted questions for this. They clearly enjoyed the answers.


	3. Vignette One - Friendship Is Magic

Assorted moans and groans sounded amongst the six mares as they roused themselves from unconsciousness and recovered from the magic they’d unleashed.

“Ugh, my head.” Rainbow Dash rubbed her cranium with one hoof as she pulled herself up and stretched out her wings.

Applejack looked about among her friends, weary but recovering. “Everypony okay?”

“I believe so, I certainly don’t feel…” Rarity gasped, back on her hooves and almost instantly noticing the single biggest change on her person with glee. “Oh thank heavens!”

Fluttershy smiled and approached the fashionista. “Oh Rarity, it’s so lovely.”

“I know!” The white unicorn swished her restored tail about, the limb now fully restored to its glory from the start of their adventure, before she’d sacrificed it to aid the sea serpent they’d met along the way. “I’ll never part with it again!”

“Oh, yes, your tail does look nice, but I was actually talking about your necklace.” As her friend noticed her new accessory and the violet gem upon it, Fluttershy explained, “It looks just like your cutie mark.”

“Ooh, so it does…” Rarity’s eyes wandered to Fluttershy’s neck, where she noticed a similar accessory. “As does yours, dear!”

Fluttershy let out a small gasp at the butterfly-shaped gemstone upon her neck, and looked to Applejack and Pinkie Pie to notice the ones they now wore, shaped like an orange apple and a blue balloon respectively. While the farmer looked a little embarrassed by her new bit of jewelry, the party mare was decidedly more excited. “Look at mine! Look at mine!”

Rainbow prodded at her own, a red lightning bolt-shaped gem upon it, and smirked. “Jewelry’s not really my thing, but this is kinda awesome.” Her attention turned to the last of the group and noted, “Less silly than what Twilight’s got, anyway.”

Twilight Sparkle, lone among her friends, had not been granted a necklace, but instead wore a crown, crafted in such a way that her ears held it comfortably in place. Its base was studded with bright blue stones, but they paled in comparison to the six-pointed star-shaped gem that sat upon it. Twilight felt a little silly wearing it, but a tiny part of her thought that it did feel nice to have it upon her head.

“Ah guess you were right, Twilight.” Applejack approached her and admitted, “We really do represent the Elements of Harmony. Who’d’a thunk it?”

A gentle laugh sounded out as light flooded the chamber through its windows and the sun rose in the distance. As the sun shone ever more brightly, a flash of light briefly blocked it out before fading away to reveal a familiar and far happier sight. Standing before them was an alicorn, the only one that anypony could recognize on sight, tall and elegant with a long horn emerging from her head and wide wings emerging from her sides. Her mane was a flowing sea of pinks, blues and greens, and she wore gilded horseshoes, a peytral and crown, with a smile upon her face as she gazed upon her subjects.

“Princess Celestia!” As her friends bowed in the presence of their ruler, Twilight rushed forward to embrace her. As the princess warmly embraced her in turn, the unicorn asked, “What happened? Where did you go?”

“Nightmare Moon sent me to the moon in her place. When you defeated her, the banishment was undone.” She beamed with pride as she regarded her faithful student. “Well done, Twilight Sparkle. I knew you could do it.”

“But you told me that it was all an old pony tale…”

The princess shook her head. “I told you that you needed to _make some friends_. I saw the signs of Nightmare Moon’s return just as you did, and I knew that it was you who had the magic inside to defeat her. But you could not unleash it until you embraced friendship, and allowed it into your heart.” She looked to the other bearers, who had long ended their bows and had approached with some hesitation. “And from what I’ve seen, you’ve done an amazing job of exactly that. Well done, all of you. The Elements of Harmony are now yours, bonded to you so long as you’re worthy to wield them.” The smile faded as she looked to the last pony in the room, one whom the rest of them had failed to notice in all of their excitement. “Now, however, it’s time your predecessors took care of some unfinished business.”

In the opposite corner of the room, where Nightmare Moon had stood, now rested fragments of shattered armor and another alicorn mare, indigo in color and similarly clad to Celestia. She moaned softly as her eyelids fluttered open, then gasped as if waking up from a terrible dream. She looked about, then turned fearful and ashamed as Celestia approached.

A similar expression of shame was upon the larger alicorn’s face as she approached the smaller. “Hello Luna. It’s been a very long time, my dear sister.”

“Sister?” Rainbow Dash approached the scholar of their group and asked, “What the hay is she talking about?”

Awestruck comprehension slowly became clear upon Twilight’s face as she remembered the old story. “A thousand years ago, Equestria was ruled by two pony sisters. The elder raised the sun and brought forth the day, and the younger raised the moon and brought forth the night.”

“But the younger grew resentful of the elder, as their subjects basked and played in the light of the day, and slept and neglected her beautiful nights.” A sad tone was clear in Celestia’s voice as she continued, “And as the younger grew ever more bitter, the elder became more and more distracted, and failed to see that she’d lost her beloved little sister until it was too late. The younger became consumed by a terrible darkness, and the elder was forced to banish her with the Elements of Harmony.” Tears formed as she admitted, “_I_ was forced to banish my little sister.”

The smaller alicorn whimpered.

“Then, the ponies in the old story…” Rarity looked at the two in amazement. “But that means the two of you are well over a thousand years old!”

Pinkie let out a low whistle. “That’s a lotta candles for a birthday cake.”

“And for a thousand years, the story of Nightmare Moon has twisted and changed such that the truth became concealed by myth and legend. And for a thousand years, my sister has been the victim of my neglect, trapped as much by my own hooves as she was by the monster who took her. Had I only known…” She less knelt than she did collapse in sorrow. “Luna, I am so very sorry. For everything. We were meant to rule Equestria together, as equals, but for so many, yours became the lesser light. You were trapped long before the Nightmare claimed you, and I was too much a fool to recognize how you felt. You deserved better from all of us, but especially from me, as your friend and as your sister. I wish…”

Celestia was interrupted as her sister jumped up and embraced her. Tears streamed down her face as she cried out, “I’m sorry too, Celie! I didn’t want to hurt anyone, I just…!”

“You just didn’t want to be unloved.” Celestia wrapped her forelegs and wings about her sibling and held her close. “You didn’t want to be alone. I know.”

The younger sister sniffled as she sought to regain control of herself. “I missed you so much.”

The elder alicorn smiled even as her tears continued, and she took her sister into a tight embrace. “I missed you too, Luna. Welcome home. And things will be different now. I promise.”

A few sniffles could be heard behind them. Both looked behind them as Pinkie Pie gushed tears, the other mares far more restrained but very clearly moved. The two alicorns recovered themselves, and both rose to their hooves as Celestia stood back. Luna approached them with as much regal bearing as she could muster, her gaze firm upon the lavender unicorn. “We regret not having heard thine name, young mare. It would please us to know it, so that we may properly thank you.”

Twilight gave a respectful bow. “Twilight Sparkle, your Highness.”

A nod. “Thank you, Twilight Sparkle. To you and your friends, for restoring us, for…” The regal veneer cracked and she softly finished with a smile, “For bringing me home.”

“Well, I don’t know about the rest of you, but I know what this calls for!” Pinkie pronked her way back to the chamber entrance and declared, “Come on, everypony! We’ve got a Summer Sun Celebration to get back to!”

Celestia flashed an encouraging smile to her sister as they were led out by five of the new bearers of the Elements of Harmony, one lagging behind. “Aren’t you coming, Twilight?”

The unicorn shook her head as if clearing out a daze and smiled. “Yes, of course.” She followed them out, the odd thought of sadness at having been left out of the full truth brushed aside with the assurance that things had worked out. Others still lingered, such as what would happen now, and whether she should return to Canterlot and her studies, or stay and embrace this new life with the friends she’d made in Ponyville.

The latter thought would stay with her all the way back to town, but the former would come back to her for some time to come, until the day when she could ignore it no longer. But that was a day long in coming.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> An alternate take on the reconciliation scene between Celestia and Luna from the two-part series premiere, adapted from the original as written by Lauren Faust. Many have objected to how the scene was presented, and I took the chance to show how it went down in my version, with a more regretful and remorseful Celestia and a promise that things will be different this time.
> 
> Take note that this is the only difference in events between the original version and the Quiververse version. A nice, small tweak, rather than a complete rewrite. And it won't be the last...


	4. Vignette Two - One Bad Apple

“And we figured out you were just doing it to avoid getting picked on in Ponyville. But by then, we were the ones being bullies, and…” Sweetie Belle threw up her hooves as her friends climbed out of the tub of soapy water and exclaimed, “Oh, why does life have to be so ironic?!”

Applejack raised an eyebrow as she threw towels over the other two Crusaders. “Don’t quite think you’re usin’ that word right, Sweetie Belle.” The unicorn filly emerged from the tub and got her own towel as the older mare continued, “Still, why didn’t ya’ll tell me what was goin’ on?”

“‘Cuz we didn’t wanna get stuck as snitches.” Apple Bloom bowed her head and added, “An’ it wasn’t like you were doin’ much about Diamond Tiara an’ Silver Spoon.” 

“Ah wasn’t doin’ much about ‘em because Ah thought ya’ll were doin’ a pretty good job dealin’ with ‘em on yer own. Ya’ll have to fight yer own battles after all. Can’t rely on me or somepony else to help ya all the time.” She frowned and added, “That bein’ said, ya’ll shouldn’t be afraid to ask fer help neither. Now you three dry yerselves off, hmm?” She then turned to the remaining filly and curtly ordered, “Babs, you come with me.”

The Manehattan native kept silent as she followed her cousin into the nearby barn. How much of it was due to guilt for her actions, Applejack wasn’t sure, but she hoped that was the main reason. Because the alternative was anything but pleasant. 

The barn door closed behind them, and Applejack turned her gaze upon the filly. “Ah’d ask what you were thinkin’ when you decided to give your cousin and her friends a hard time, but Ah’ve got a bad feelin’ Ah already know the answer to that question.” 

“I…”

“No little filly, it ain’t your turn to talk. When Ah heard about the trouble you were havin’ back in Manehattan from Sunflower, Ah didn’t have reason to question it. Now, after hearin’ all’a this, Ah’m wonderin’ things that Ah’d rather not wonder about.” She gave the filly a hard glare and asked, “Now Ah want a simple yes or no answer outta you, Babs. Were you bein’ bullied back in Manehattan?” 

“Yes!” the filly answered without hesitation.

Applejack pursed her lips. “An’ you expect me to believe that now?”

Babs’ ears drooped, and her head quickly followed. “No.”

The older mare huffed. “Well at least ya’ll have some smarts in that head’a yours.” She then sat down. “Alright filly, Ah’ve heard Apple Bloom speculate about why you did it, but Ah wanna hear it from you. What in the Maker’s name made you think that bullyin’ them was in any way a good idea, after you’d been bullied yerself back home? And this ain’t a yes or no question.”

The filly meekly raised her head to face her cousin as she asked, “You ever been bullied?” At the mare’s head shake ‘no’, the filly blew her mane out of her eyes. “Count yourself lucky. Back in my school in Manehattan, the bullies are always there, always causin’ trouble, an’ always givin’ me grief over one thing or another. An’ bein’ a blank flank’s the least’a my problems with ‘em. I mean, look at me. I kinda stand out, bein’ big for my age.” She frowned and added, “An’ the worst thing is, it ain’t just the bullies. Everyone else in my class joins in, an’ it’s like no one cares. My teacher back home sure don’t.” She frowned and added, “I came here, and with Apple Bloom bein’ the way she was, I thought I was gettin’ set up for somethin’. Happened to me way too often back home. When Diamond Tiara an’ Silver Spoon showed up an’ started givin’ the Crusaders grief, I thought that was the only chance I had to keep from havin’ it happen all over again.” 

Applejack scowled. “So ya took the coward’s way out.” At the filly’s shocked expression, the mare continued, “Don’t try to call it anythin’ else, filly, because that’s exactly what ya did! An’ worse, you were an even bigger bully to them than Diamond Tiara an’ Silver Spoon have ever been! Ah don’t know who Ah’m angrier at, or more disappointed in – you fer pullin’ all those stunts, or me for not seein’ what was goin’ on under mah own eyes! Trashin’ that float?! Houndin’ em all over town?! Kickin’ ‘em outta their own clubhouse?! Makin’ Apple Bloom sleep on the floor?! It ain’t a wonder that they tried that stunt with the booby-trapped float and –!”

Applejack caught herself in time, but Babs could tell where it was going. “An’ would’ve ended up with me gettin’ hurt. Or worse.” 

The mare sighed. “Ah don’t think they intended for ya’ll to end up hurt. Or worse. Stuck in the mud, yeah, but definitely not injured.” She shook her head sadly. “Babs, did you enjoy all the trouble you went through back home, with all that bullyin’?” 

“No.”

“An’ you think Apple Bloom enjoyed it? Or that she enjoys it when Diamond Tiara gives her trouble? An’ that’s ignorin’ the fact that after all the stunts you’ve done, that filly’s probably gonna think she can get away with that kinda crap too, or worse.” 

That realization led to a horror-struck look on Babs’ face as she asked, “Will she? I mean, I didn’t think…”

“No, you didn’t. An’ Ah’d like to see her try an’ pull that kinda stuff, because if’n she did, well…” She gave the filly a half-smile. “Let’s just say you’re lucky Granny Smith’s takin’ her annual trip to Las Pegasus right now. An’ if’n Diamond Tiara had pulled half the stunts you’d pulled, trust me, Granny wouldn’t take it easy on her.” 

“And me?” 

Applejack turned regretful. “Ah don’t know. As it is, Ah ain’t sure how to take this, beyond anger an’ disappointment. You done hurt yer kin, Babs, an’ Apples stick together. We look out fer each other. That’s probably the big reason why Ah didn’t get bullied as a young’un, because ponies knew that if’n they tried to pull anythin’, they’d get trouble from Granny an’ mah daddy. An’ that’s because Ah ain’t stupid enough to be worried about bein’ a snitch.”

“But…”

“But nuthin’! Problems don’t get solved unless ponies actually address those problems, an’ they don’t get addressed unless they get talked about! Keepin’ silent over a bad thing ain’t gonna help nopony except the ones causin’ the problem, an’ do ya really want them bullies to win?”

“But the teachers wouldn’t do nuthin’ about it!”

“Well then they’re cowards too! Same as everypony else who sat back and did nuthin’ in your class while you were gettin’ bullied! An’ besides, just because one adult won’t do somethin’ don’t mean another adult won’t! What about yer parents, or Aunt and Uncle Orange? Somethin’ tells me those two’d be able to pull some strings to do somethin’ about it.” 

“But then…!”

“But nuthin’! Gal, if’n the trouble’s that bad, then doin’ somethin’ to fight back is better than just sittin’ there an’ takin’ it, an’ it’s loads better than what you did to the Crusaders.”

Babs frowned. “You make it sound easy. Ain’t a surprise, considerin’.”

“Considerin’ what, me bein’ a bearer of an Element a’ Harmony? Babs, Ah ain’t ashamed to admit it, but Ah was scared outta mah mind when me an’ my friends went into the Everfree to find those Elements. We didn’t have complete information, an’ there was no guarantee we’d make it through those woods in one piece. Trust me, you grow up in Ponyville, you get a healthy respect for how scary that place can be.” She raised a hoof to the filly’s chin and told her, “But Ah was a lot more scared of what would happen if’n Ah did nuthin’. Celestia gone, a monster rulin’ Equestria in her place, all sorts’a terrors on the horizon. What we got ain’t perfect, but Ah’d rather not see what Equestria would be like under a tyrant. All those stories from Nightmare Night might not be true, but the real deal would’ve been a whole lot worse.” She then lifted Babs’ head up and said, “Real courage ain’t about not bein’ afraid. It’s bein’ afraid, an’ doin’ the right thing anyway.”

Babs frowned, then closed her eyes in shame. “I’m sorry, Applejack. You must hate me for all this.”

“No, but like Ah said, Ah’m mighty disappointed, in you and in me.” She lowered her hoof and admitted, “Tell ya the truth, Ah probably should’ve told Apple Bloom the full story from the start about what was goin’ on and why you were here. Ah didn’t want you to feel singled out over what you were goin’ through back home, but maybe if’n Ah had, we could’ve avoided all’a this.” 

“Yeah, but what’s done is done. Ain’t like I can go back an’ change things or somethin’.”

“No, but you can learn from this, make things right.” She stood up and moved to one side, then turned her head towards the barn door. “An’ Ah think we both know where you can start.” 

Babs opened her eyes to see the three Crusaders standing at the barn door. With more than a little fear, she stepped forward. “Girls, I’m sorry, for what I did. I know that ain’t enough to make up for all the trouble I gave ya, but I am sorry. And I had that bit with the float comin’.”

The three Crusaders looked among themselves, before Apple Bloom shrugged. “Maybe ya did, but Ah think we both made mistakes today.”

“And we probably did come on a little strong when we met you.” Scootaloo managed a nervous smile at that. “Maybe a lot strong.”

“Still, every pony makes mistakes.” Sweetie Belle smiled hopefully. “And when a pony’s genuinely sorry, and they work to make amends, then you should always give them a chance. Or you could lose something special.”

Babs looked among the three and wondered aloud, “So, you forgive me? Just like that?”

Apple Bloom offered a hoof. “Ah don’t like holdin’ grudges.” 

The larger filly smiled, then took her cousin into a tight hug. Apple Bloom smiled back and did likewise, with the other Crusaders following.

Applejack smiled, then stepped forward. “Well, Ah’m glad ya’ll’ve made up, but…” The four turned to her with renewed concern before she continued, “Babs, Ah believe you when you say you’re sorry, but sayin’ that ain’t enough. When you came into town, you were a guest. Now though, you’ve got a debt to pay, and there’s plenty means to do it out here on the farm. Startin’ tomorrow, you’re helpin’ Apple Bloom with her chores. And you’re gonna keep on helpin’ her till yer visit’s done. An’ beyond that, Ah will be writin’ to yer folks about what you’ve done.”

Babs lowered her head. “Should’a seen that comin’.” She raised it again and admitted, “Still, that’s probably gettin’ off light, ain’t it?”

“Accordin’ to some, yeah. But don’t be surprised if’n your folks give you a punishment or two once ya get home, even while they’re dealin’ with the bullyin’ you had to deal with. And trust me, they will.” The mare gently knocked a hoof against her cousin’s leg and assured her, “This family looks after its own. Always.” 

-

The remainder of Babs Seed’s stay had been mercifully quiet. While she had something of a learning curve, the filly had gone into every chore and assignment without complaint. Apple Bloom, consequently, had found herself getting her work done just a little faster, and also found herself with a little bit more free time on her hands. And by the end of her stay, Babs had been inducted into the Cutie Mark Crusaders. There’d even been some talk of her starting a branch in Manehattan, much to the others’ delight. 

“Don’t know how many ponies’ll wanna be part’a it, but it’s worth a shot.” She smiled sadly. “At least they’ll know they ain’t in it alone.” 

“Darn right.” Applejack smiled. “An’ you remember what we talked about, right?”

Babs nodded. “Speakin’ up when you’re gettin’ hurt don’t mean you’re a snitch. It means you’re not lettin’ the bully get away with bein’ a bully. An’ bein’ a bully to others ain’t the way to deal with a bully in the first place.” She frowned. “For all the good it’ll do me.”

Apple Bloom came forward and gave her cousin a hug. “Don’t give up hope, Babs. Things might just work out for ya.” 

Before Babs could reply, a scoff sounded from the other side of the platform. “And here I thought you weren’t just another lame blank flank!” Heads turned to find Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon standing nearby, the former looking smug. “Guess I was wrong!”

Sweetie Belle leaned in close to Scootaloo and whispered, “What is it with those two? Do they enjoy being jerks?”

The pegasus filly frowned. “I don’t know, and I don’t _wanna_ know.” 

Applejack frowned and stepped forward, but Babs held up a hoof to stop her. The Manehattan native then stood tall and locked her gaze on the two fillies before her. “You wanna see somethin’ lame, try lookin’ in a mirror sometime. Better a blank flank than a bully any day of the week.” 

Diamond sneered and turned her head up. “Doesn’t make you Cutie Mark-Less Crusaders any less lame, though.” 

“An’ it don’t change how pathetic you two are.” Babs’s gaze held firm as the wealthy filly rounded on her, and she continued, “Someday, the two’a you are gonna see just how much hurt you’ve done to others, and yourselves. Wonder what’ll happen then.” She then stepped forward, her gaze still locked on Diamond Tiara as she inched closer. “I can see it now. You two pick a fight with somepony, bite off more’n you can chew, and then the real trouble starts. You’ll be all alone, no friends an’ no way your money can help ya because no one likes ya.” She stopped just a few inches away from the bullying filly and noted, “Gonna be awful scary when that time comes.”

Diamond tried her best to not look intimidated at the larger mare and blustered, “You think I’m scared of –?”

Babs suddenly jumped forward and shouted “Boo!” and caused the bully to jump back in shock. With a satisfied grin, Babs turned around and made her way back to her fellow Crusaders as the train pulled into the station and she made her goodbyes. 

Diamond waited until Babs had boarded the train and it had started on its way, then approached Apple Bloom and said, “If you think for one minute your cousin has scared me off…”

“It ain’t Babs you need to be worryin’ about, little missy.” She looked up to find Applejack scowling at her. “From what Ah’ve been hearin’, you an’ your little hanger-on done came onta mah family’s property without an invite, just to give my little sister and her friends trouble. Ah got problems with that, an’ Ah know a few other ponies who’d have problems with it too.” Her glare intensified as she added, “Like yer daddy.” 

Diamond paused at that, then sneered. “As if he’d believe _you_.” 

“It ain’t just _me_ he’ll be hearin’ it from.” Applejack let the threat hang as she turned around and beckoned, “Come on, ya’ll. Plenty left to do today, and it ain’t gettin’ done here.”

Diamond fumed as Applejack and the Crusaders went on their way, then turned and trotted off herself. “Come on, Silver Spoon. We’ve got better things to do than hang around here.” As they gained distance from the train station, she grumbled, “The nerve of that mare. Who does she think she is, talking to me like that?”

“Apple Bloom’s big sister? One of the ponies that stopped Nightmare Moon?”

Diamond restrained a groan at her friend failing to recognize a rhetorical question as she went on her way. The day Babs spoke of would never come – she was a diamond, and diamonds didn’t break.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This vignette is adapted from the original episode from Cindy Morrow, and I admit draws a little from the story _Consequences - A Bad Apple Comedy of Justice_ by author _Stainless Steel Fox_. If he's got an issue, I apologize immensely. 
> 
> _https://www.fimfiction.net/story/157504/consequences-a-bad-apple-comedy-of-justice_
> 
> _One Bad Apple_ sits among the more controversial episodes in the fandom, particularly among those of us who were bullied in the past. As anyone can tell you, while going to an adult is something you should do about being bullied, it isn't the magical solution to the problem. Bullying, alas, happens for a number of reasons, and a number of authority figures fail to grasp why. There's a tiny part of me that wants to give Cindy Morrow the benefit of the doubt and say that someone higher up the food chain from her did something to this script along the lines of what they did to M. A. Larsen with _Magical Mystery Cure_ and later (more infamously) _Fame and Misfortune_, but that's just speculation on my part. In any case, I think I've addressed at least a few issues here.


	5. Vignette Three - Sweet and Elite

“You know these ponies?”

As the various nobles and elite chattered amongst themselves, Rarity found herself caught between the proverbial rock and a hard place as she stood between them and her friends from back home in Ponyville. Since not long after her arrival in Canterlot, she’d spent most of her time ingratiating herself with Fancy Pants and his entourage, the cream of the city’s crop. And thanks to a number of factors outside of her control, the world that she’d hoped to be a part of had come crashing face-first into the world from which she’d come, and what standing she’d built up was about to collapse like a house of cards in a sudden breeze.

Perhaps she was indulging in her Shadow Spade novels just a bit too much, but nonetheless, there was only one thing that she could do.

“Yes.” Rarity mustered up her courage and firmly admitted, “Yes, I do know them. They may not be as sophisticated as some of you Canterlot ponies, but they are my best friends.” She turned back to face her friends and smiled. “And they are without a doubt the most important ponies I know.”

A derisive snort sounded from behind her. “Important ponies? These ruffians?”

Upper Crust’s tone was a perfect match for her husband’s. “Don’t make me laugh!”

The pair proceeded to do exactly that, only for Fancy Pants to cut them off. “Well I for one find them charmingly rustic.” He waited just long enough for his fellow elites to gasp before he approached Twilight with approval. “And I think the dress you made for your friend is lovely.” He turned back towards Rarity with a chuckle, though the laugh clearly wasn’t intended towards her. “I dare say every mare in Canterlot will be wanting one.”

Swiftly enough, Upper Crust rushed to Rarity’s side and purred, “Oh, I’d like to place my order _right now_.”

Jet Set took the opposite side. “I think you should get two, darling.”

Even Fancy Pants appeared surprised at how quickly the two brown-nosing ponies made their about-face, if his expression was any indication. “Er, yes, now then.” He quickly regained his composure and prompted, “Rarity, perhaps you’d be so kind as to introduce me to your friends?”

The mare beamed. “With pleasure!” She crossed the distance and made her way to the earth pony mare with muddied hooves. “If you’ll allow me, I’ll begin with the mare whom I’ve known the longest. This is Applejack. Ponyville practically grew from the seeds her family planted, and its core rests with her family farm, Sweet Apple Acres.”

At the stallion’s curious expression, Applejack made a nervous smile and doffed her hat in greeting. “Well, that’s a tiny bit more poetic than Ah’d put it, but it ain’t too far off. Right pleased to be introduced to ya, sir.”

“Likewise my dear. Now, is this Sweet Apple Acres the same one which produces zap apple jam?”

“The very same, sir. Afraid you’re a hair late to put in an order for this year's batch, but Ah’d be more’n happy to put your name down for next year.”

The noblestallion made a pleased laugh. “I’m much obliged to you, miss.”

Rarity suspected that there would be quite a few names down for orders of zap apple jam in the near future, but opted to clear her throat and carry on. “Next, this is Pinkamena Diane Pie, the preeminent party planner of Ponyville.”

The pink party mare licked her face clean and offered a hoof. “Pinkie Pie for short, Sir Fancy Pants!”

“Delighted. I assume that you handle all sorts of parties?”

Pinkie nodded. “Except for political parties, though. Too much hot air.”

Fancy Pants laughed at that, which prompted some additional laughter from the Canterlot elite. “Well, I certainly can’t fault you for thinking that. Are you a native of Ponyville as well?”

“Nope. I moved there from Rockville when I was a little filly.” She pulled a business card from her mane and noted, “But if you’re ever looking for a good source of catering, here’s the card for the place I work at. We make good treats at Sugar Cube Corner.”

He took up the card in his magic. “I’ll keep this in mind, though a menu would…” A pamphlet emerged from her mane as well, and soon joined the card with his approval. “I dare say, you’re prepared for anything.”

Pinkie shrugged. “I try.”

“And Pinkie’s not our only transplant.” Rarity gestured to the yellow pegasus among them. “This is Fluttershy. She’s Ponyville’s wildlife conservation officer, as well as something of an unofficial veterinarian. She has a fantastic way with animals, as you may have noticed.”

“It’s my special talent.” Fluttershy, for her part, looked to be making a very strong effort to be brave for her friend. “Pleased to meet you, sir.”

“And I you, miss. I assume you originate in Cloudsdale?”

A nod. “I moved to Ponyville a few years ago, with a friend.”

“Namely, me.” The prismatic pegasus among them stepped up with a cocky grin. “Rainbow Dash.”

That prompted an eyebrow raise and a small grin. “Ah, the Wonderbolts’ trainer.”

Rainbow Dash and Rarity’s eyes both went wide at that, though for different reasons. The latter found herself fighting back an embarrassed expression as the former grinned. “Geez Rarity, when you lie, you lie _big_!” Dash laughed and clarified, “I _wish_ I was their trainer, but no. Someday though, I’m gonna be a Wonderbolt! You can count on it!”

Fancy Pants accepted that with a laugh. “I look forward to seeing you at one of their derbies then.” His gaze turned to the last of their number as he prompted, “And last but not least is…?”

Rarity regained her composure. “The last of my friends to come to Ponyville, a resident as of the recent Summer Sun Celebration. This is Twilight Sparkle. And the dress she’s wearing is, in fact, my gift to her, in honor of her birthday.”

Fancy Pants smiled and nodded. “Happy Birthday, young mare.”

“Thank you, sir, and I’m sorry if my party ended up disrupting yours.”

He dismissively waved a hoof. “You’ve disrupted nothing. In fact, I suspect that I did more to disrupt your friend’s efforts at making a gift than you did anything of mine.” A few of his guests briefly looked disgruntled at that.

“That’s as much my fault as it is yours,” Rarity admitted. “In any case, it’s thanks to her that I was able to stay in the palace in the first place. You see…”

“Twilight Sparkle happens to be a very important pony to quite a few of us.” Heads turned to find a group of four new arrivals. Rarity wasn’t certain what attracted the attention of the Canterlot Elite besides Fancy Pants more between the young dragon or the alicorn, but the way they looked now could only be described as slack-jawed as the latter smiled. “And I for one couldn’t ignore my most treasured student’s birthday.”

“Princess Celestia! Mom! Dad! Spike!” Twilight rushed forward and took her family into a tight embrace. “Where’s…?”

“On assignment, unfortunately, but he sends his love.” Twilight Velvet happily hugged her daughter back. “It’s great to see you, Twilight.”

“I’d say, especially considering we’ve barely seen you since you moved to Ponyville.” Night Light gave his daughter a reassuring grin. “Relax, that’s as much on us as it is you. We definitely need to visit the next chance we get, and get properly introduced to all these new friends of yours.”

As Twilight beamed and began introductions of her own, Rarity’s gaze met that of Princess Celestia, and she gave a small smile. The pair went off to a secluded corner as Rarity ventured, “Forgive me for asking, your Highness, but you didn’t plan this, did you?”

Celestia laughed. “Hardly, Rarity. But once I found out that Twilight’s party had been moved here to Canterlot, well, I had to do something. And making certain that her family was here was important, given how little she sees them anymore.” She smiled sadly and noted, “With any luck, that will change soon.”

“Well, regardless, I do believe that I’ve learned something from this.” At the princess’ curious expression, Rarity explained, “No matter where you go in life, you should never forget that you are the product of your home and your friends. And that is something always to be proud of, no matter what.”

Celestia raised an eyebrow. “Anything else?”

The elegant unicorn made a nervous laugh. “Yes. That bending the truth will always come back to bite you in the end.”

Outwardly, the alicorn smiled and nodded. On the inside, however, she wished that she’d learned that lesson much sooner than Rarity had, as quite a few truths she’d bent over the years had done exactly that, and she feared a few more were yet to come.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was originally going to be less a change to canon and more a sort of deleted scene to reflect something that I wish had been there in the first place. Twilight throws a birthday party, and Spike isn't there? Nor her parents or the princess? The rewrite, however, ended up tweaking things, so there you are. 
> 
> To this day, however, I wish that the original episode had been the debut for Shining Armor. Not only would it have been an organic way to bring him into the series, but imagine Rarity's awkward embarrassment.


	6. Vignette Four - A Bird in the Hoof

Sugar Cube Corner was busier than normal today, though for clear enough reasons given their illustrious guest. Carrot Cake and Cup Cake were beside themselves keeping things in order, despite the attempts at their guest to get them to lighten up. Alas, there were limits to even Princess Celestia’s power.

She preferred it that way, of course, but still, it would be nice if her subjects could loosen up from time to time. She did her best to grin and bear it before something happened to disrupt this rare moment of relaxation, and turned to one of the ponies she’d hoped to spend time with and get to know better. “Now then, Fluttershy. I understand from Twilight’s letters that you enjoy tending to the needs of woodland creatures.”

The yellow pegasus nodded, just a bit more at ease than she was before. “Oh yes, I love to take care of animals.”

“As do I, though I rarely have as much time as I’d like to do so.” A harsh cough sounded from a shrouded golden cage beside her as she continued, “And in some cases, I find I have more than enough on my hooves with just one animal. Speaking of.” She pulled back the curtain on the cage and turned her attention to the creature inside. “Nice of you to join us, Philomena. Please say hello to our gracious hosts.”

The creature inside the cage was clearly some sort of bird, though it looked to be in horrid condition, with patches of bare skin visible as it continued to hack and cough.

Fluttershy wasn’t certain of what to say about the sight before her, so she did her best to remain diplomatic. “Oh…my…”

“She is quite a sight, isn’t she?” Celestia smiled reassuringly. “Don’t worry, this won’t last too long. She’ll be right as rain after she combusts.”

That phrasing briefly shocked the animal lover, before her knowledge kicked in and she realized what that meant. “Oh! Philomena’s a phoenix!” She turned to the lavender unicorn at her side and asked, “Twilight, why didn’t you tell me that Celestia was caring for such an amazing animal?”

Twilight had the decency to look embarrassed as she admitted, “Well, I was a little worried about how you’d take it. Phoenixes aren’t exactly domesticated.”

“No, but that doesn’t mean ponies can’t look after them.” Fluttershy’s attention was on the bird as she reasoned, “Of course, a combustion can still go wrong for a phoenix after a certain point in its life cycle, assuming they don’t get sufficient amounts of water before it happens. No wonder you have the poor dear with you.”

Celestia nodded, then found her attention claimed by a guard behind her as he whispered into her hear. “Really? Oh dear. Well, if I must.” She stood up and cleared her throat to get everypony’s attention. “My apologies, everypony, but I’m afraid that I must cut the party short. Royal duty calls, and Mayor Mare has requested an audience with me. Thank you, however, for a wonderful time. It’s been a joy getting to know all of you better.” As the gathered ponies expressed their disappointment and made a path for her to depart the shop, she turned to Fluttershy and asked, “Fluttershy, I’m uncertain of how long I’ll be with the Mayor. Would you be so kind as to look after Philomena for me until my business is concluded?”

The pegasus beamed at the offer and all but exclaimed, “Of course! I’d be happy to look after her!”

The princess gave a grateful smile, then turned to Philomena. “Don’t give her any trouble, young lady. Understood?” The bird coughed in reply as it nodded. “Alright then. I’ll see you soon.”

As Celestia went on her way, Twilight looked to her friend with an awestruck expression. “Fluttershy, this is amazing! To have Princess Celestia put this much trust into you…!”

The pegasus flashed a nervous smile. “Well, you did tell her how good I am with animals. She probably thinks that I’m the best pony to look after Philomena for her.”

Twilight, however, looked like she might go into a seizure she was so nervous. “But you don’t understand! If something goes wrong, it could be…!”

“Twilight, you remember what we’ve said before about not worrying unnecessarily?” At her friend’s slow nod, she then added, “And do you know anypony, save maybe Doctor Fauna or Zecora, who knows more about tending to exotic creatures than I do? All I need to do is keep Philomena comfortable, hydrated, and away from anything flammable, and I’ll be just fine.” She carefully closed up the drapes on the birdcage, then carried it and Philomena out of the shop and off to her cottage.

Twilight watched her go in astonishment as Spike joined her. She turned to her assistant and asked, “Did you see that?”

“Yeah, and Fluttershy’s right, Twilight. She knows what she’s doing.”

“Still, something could go wrong! And if the worst happens, then Fluttershy could be imprisoned, or banished! Or imprisoned wherever she’s been banished to!”

Spike raised an eyebrow. “Seriously? Twilight, you know the princess. Even if the worst happens, which it won’t, she’s not gonna banish Fluttershy.” He shook his head. “But you’re gonna go and keep an eye on her just in case, right? Instead of trusting her to know what she’s doing?”

Twilight looked for a second like she was about to bolt out the door after Fluttershy, but relented. “Maybe I am worrying too much, but still, I know how attached Philomena is to Princess Celestia. For all we know, she might just try to get back to the princess.”

“Maybe, but Celestia did tell her not to give Fluttershy any trouble.” That did little to ease Twilight’s mood as Spike prompted, “Anyway, if all this goes okay, then maybe we’ve avoided a problem.”

-

It took everything Twilight had to avoid glaring at Spike as they looked upon the sight before them. Fluttershy was looking increasingly nervous as she watched the pile of ash before her that had previously been Philomena, waiting for it to go back to being a bird. She was more worried about Celestia’s reaction as the princess stepped forward into her friend’s cottage. “Princess Celestia, please, Fluttershy did all she…!” She turned silent as Celestia raised a wing.

Celestia, meanwhile, knelt down and smiled. “Come on now, Philomena, you’re scaring everypony.”

At her beckoning, the pile of ash pulled itself together and rose into the air. With a flash of light, the ash coalesced into a majestic bird, resplendent with red, orange and yellow plumage. Philomena fluttered down in front of a surprised Fluttershy, and gently rubbed the pony’s muzzle with her beak. The pegasus managed a sigh of relief. “Oh thank goodness. I was a little worried when she started pulling out her own feathers…”

“Phoenixes need as much oxygen in contact with their bare skin as they can get for their combustion. Hence, pulling out their feathers.”

Another sigh of relief. “Well, that aside, Philomena was on excellent behavior. Thank you for the chance to look after her.”

“And thank you for doing so, though something tells me you would have gone ahead and looked after her regardless.” The princess winked as she noted, “Thank goodness we saved ourselves a little embarrassment beforehoof, hmm?”

Fluttershy nodded as Philomena shook one wing as a loose feather drifted out. The phoenix snatched it out of the air with her beak, then presented it to her caretaker in thanks. “Oh, thank you!” She gently placed it into her mane, right behind one ear. “If you ever need me to look after her again, I’m more than happy to do so.”

“And you probably would have done so regardless.” Fluttershy turned embarrassed as the princess assured her, “Don’t worry, Fluttershy. I recognize that your heart was in the right place, though you should always remember where certain roads lead that are paved with good intentions. Thinking things through and asking first are always wise things to do, so let’s remember that for the future, hmm?”

“Of course.”

Celestia nodded as Twilight approached. “I’m sorry, to both of you. I should have trusted that Fluttershy knew what she was doing.” She bowed her head. “I’ve been a horrible friend.”

The princess wrapped a warm wing around her and smiled. “More like a very anxious one, Twilight. And there’s no shame in worrying over a friend, even when you know they can handle themselves. But let’s keep this friendship lesson in mind in the future as well, hmm?” Twilight smiled, but as she opened her mouth to speak, the princess added, “And no, you don’t need to send that to me as a letter.”

That prompted a nervous laugh from Twilight, that quickly turned into a pleased laugh from everyone present as Spike watched, satisfied at being right. He could stand that happening more often.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> One trope that I've never been fond of is one called Poor Communication Kills. What that trope entails should be obvious, and alas, it's shown up time and again in MLP. _A Bird in the Hoof_ had one of the more egregious usages of it, and one that probably can't be excused or explained away. Seriously, if Celestia had done this, then Fluttershy could have avoided so much heartache...and maybe Twilight wouldn't have freaked out as much. 
> 
> Anyway, there's nothing saying that Philomena couldn't have still given Fluttershy some trouble, but maybe less than what she got in canon.


	7. Vignette Five - The Mysterious Mare-Do-Well

Sugar Cube Corner was rarely without a healthy amount of patronage, but today it was packed with a small troupe of ponies in rainbow caps and multicolored wigs, the odd journalist and an appropriately-dressed dragon among them. All of them were looking up in rapt attention at the prismatic pegasus before them as she strutted down the tabletop, filled with confidence as she recounted her story. 

“And then I zoomed down the well, scooped up that little baby in my hooves, and carried her out to safety.” Rainbow Dash grinned with satisfaction and continued, “I knew it would be dark and dangerous, but I didn’t let that stop me, because danger is my middle name! Rainbow ‘Danger’ Dash!” She held her head up high and concluded, “Thinking back on it, I acted pretty awesomely heroic that day.” 

As Spike repeated her last few words and jotted them down in a notepad, a few ponies in the back looked on in dissatisfaction. “Awesomely heroic that day, an’ awesomely _arrogant_ ever since.”

The ponies gathered with her nodded in agreement as Applejack found her surprised by the heroine of the hour dashing up to her and wrapping a foreleg about her neck. “Hey Applejack! How’d you like to be _immortalized_ as my friend?”

The farmmare boggled as the gathered journalists, as well as a few of the young fans, immediately started with their cameras. 

With some disapproval, Twilight Sparkle moved towards her young assistant. “Are you seriously taking notes?”

“Yup!” The dragon beamed as he explained, “I’ve been hoof-picked by Rainbow Dash herself to write her autobiography!”

The unicorn’s eyes tabled. “Autobiographies are supposed to be written _by_ the pony they are about.”

Rainbow Dash laughed. “Maybe for your normal, run-of-the-mill ponies, but I’m way too busy saving lives to stop and write.” She gently patted Spike upon his fedora-clad head and added, “That’s why I hired Spike as my ghost writer.” 

Pinkie Pie yelped. “Spike’s a ghost!”

Rarity took hold of the pink party pony with a frown. “That’s not what the term means, darling.”

An exhale of relief. “Good. I don’t wanna throw a wake.”

“…yeah. Anyway, Spike writes down everything I say, and that way, I can stay focused on performing all these awesome acts of bravery that nopony else has the guts to perform.” 

Twilight Sparkle frowned as she stepped forward. “Rainbow, nopony here is saying that what you’ve done isn’t something to be happy about, but don’t you think you’re taking this a little too far?” At her friend’s surprised expression, she elaborated, “I mean yes, you’ve helped ponies out and saved them from getting hurt, but there are plenty of other ponies who do the same, and they don’t milk for all it’s worth.”

The prismatic pegasus laughed. “Yeah, fine, but where were they when those ponies needed help? I didn’t see anypony else come to their rescue! No cops, no Royal Guards, just me!” She grinned as she turned back to her audience and declared, “And stuff like that takes guts! Brains! And sometimes a big lunch and a nap! Being a hero isn’t for everypony, but me? I’m up to the challenge!” 

As Rainbow Dash continued to take snapshots with her fans, Twilight scowled, with the rest of her friends soon following her. 

-

A few hours later saw Rainbow Dash signing autographs for a number of her fans, with the enthusiastic filly at the front accepting her signed photo with a smile. “Thank you, Rainbow Dash! Someday, I wanna be just like you!”

The prismatic pegasus grinned. “Don’t be afraid to aim high, kid, but know your limits.” 

A scream rang out, and heads turned as, high above Ponyville, a punctured hot air balloon was plummeting downwards, Cherry Berry inside the basket and crying out for help. Gasps of shock rang out among the crowd, and heads turned back to Rainbow Dash as she was back at her autographs, albeit at a faster pace than before. 

Lone among the crowd, Snips worriedly asked, “Don’t you think you should go and help?”

“I’ve got a good ten seconds, don’t worry.” She finished the photograph, then took flight, going fast but perhaps not as fast as she could to intercept the falling pony. 

The crowd was tense as the scene unfolded. Few noticed Twilight in the crowd, her horn glowing as she readied a spell to slow the balloon’s descent, but a growing number caught sight of a dark figure as it darted across Ponyville’s rooftops. As the basket got dangerously close to the ground, the newcomer scooped Cherry Berry from the basket and out of danger. Rainbow Dash made a sudden stop as the balloon crashed to the ground, then watched as the new rescuer skidded to a halt and deposited their charge nearby, much to the delight of the cheering crowd, then darted onto a rooftop with a dramatic flourish of their cape.

“Sweet Celestia, that pony came outta nowhere!” A stallion looked about the crowd and called, “Who was that mysterious mare?”

“A new hero for Ponyville!” Heads turned as Mayor Mare appeared from nowhere and declared, “A mysterious mare who has done well by our fair city! I hereby dub this new masked hero, ‘The Mysterious Mare Do Well’!”

Much of the crowd cheered, but Rainbow Dash hovered nearby and crossed her hooves in displeasure. “Mare Do Well, huh? Well, that _mare_ would _do well_ to stay outta my way! Ponyville’s only got room for one hero, and that’s me!” 

-

Within the next few days, a whirlwind of excitement had built up around Mare Do Well, discussion around town rarely straying far from the subject with each escapade and spectacle that they’d taken part in. 

“Did you see Mare Do Well stop that runaway carriage? That took some amazing strength!”

“I saw Mare Do Well save all those construction workers when that crane malfunctioned! So fast, so agile!”

“I saw her patch up the dam with magic after it burst, and then I saw her fly away from the scene! It was amazing!” Daisy gasped and wondered aloud, “Do you think Mare Do Well could be an alicorn?!”

Rainbow Dash grumbled as she walked past the flower ponies’ stand. She’d seen all of that too, and every time, Mare Do Well had shown _her_ up, pulled off all those stunts and saved all those ponies! It was like she’d known all that stuff was going to happen in advance! How dare she?!

But no way was Mare Do Well an alicorn. Equestria only had three of them, and they were all too big and too long in the leg to fit into that costume. No, there was another explanation, and the more she stewed over it, the more steamed she became as she stomped her way towards Sugar Cube Corner, confident that she’d find the ones responsible there. 

As she reached the door and was about to throw it open, however, she stopped, and a tiny thought nagged at the back of her mind. What if she was wrong? She was already angry over the idea in her head, and as lousy as she’d feel about being right, how much lousier would she feel if she was wrong? As much as she wanted to charge in, she had to take a different tact. 

She pushed open the door, and all of her friends looked at her in surprise, with Applejack raising an eyebrow. “You alright, Dash? You’re lookin’ awful steamed ‘bout somethin’.”

“Just got a lot on my mind.” She slowly walked in, consciously making an effort to not stomp her hooves, and kept her voice at an even level as she asked, “Girls, I’m gonna say this once, so please, give me a yes or no answer and don’t lie to my face. Are you guys Mare Do Well?”

Her friends looked at one another in shock before Applejack answered, “No! We ain’t! What in tarnation…?!” 

“Good.” Rainbow sat down in a slump. “That’s good.”

More confused than anything, Twilight stepped forward and asked, “Rainbow Dash, what in Equestria could make you think that we were all Mare Do Well?”

“Because there’s no way everything she’s done could be done by one mare! But all of you together?!” She rounded on Rarity as she reasoned, “You could’ve easily made the costumes! You’ve got our measurements thanks to the Grand Galloping Gala!” Then to Pinkie Pie. “And that jumping around from rooftop to rooftop, and that rescue on the construction site?! Pinkie Sense would’ve made that a snap!” Then to Applejack. “And how many ponies would have the strength needed to stop that runaway carriage?!” Then to Twilight. “And that magic to fix the dam?!”

A shocked look was on Fluttershy’s face as she stepped forward. “But we’d be terrible friends if we did something like that!”

“I know! And I feel terrible for accusing you! But I’m sick of getting shown up like this, and all of you were acting like you had a problem with me being the hero! It made sense! Too much sense, and…!” She finally slumped forward and buried her head in her hooves in a fruitless attempt to conceal her anger and shame.

Twilight frowned and gently laid a hoof on her friend’s shoulder. “Rainbow Dash, I won’t say that I disagree with your logic. None of us are happy about the way you’ve been acting, both right before Mare Do Well showed up and since, but that doesn’t mean we’d go and pull a stunt like that.” 

Still a little shaken, Rainbow Dash looked up and tried her best not to sound bitter. “Well, don’t you guys want me to help out? Save ponies?”

“Helpin’ out an’ savin’ ponies ain’t the problem, Dash. The problem is that you got a big head over it, bigger’n normal, struttin’ yer stuff like some high an’ mighty peacock.” Applejack scowled. “Reminded me just a little too much a’ that Trixie from a while back.”

That got the prismatic pegasus’ dander back up. “Hey! You were…!”

“Both of you! We’re getting off topic!” Twilight frowned at both of them and quietly noted, “And we’ll be having a talk about everything with Trixie later.” She then turned her attention back to Rainbow Dash. “Anyway, you remember what I was saying about other ponies helping out and saving ponies and averting disasters? How many of them do you think act like they deserve adulation just because they’re doing what they’re supposed to do? What they’re trained to do? A Royal Guard doesn’t do what they do for the fame or cheers. It’s a dangerous, thankless job, and they do it because it’s the right thing to do. And they don’t get a big head over it.” She frowned and admitted, “And while I admit, we could all have chipped in and played the part of Mare Do Well as you’ve suggested, none of us did.” 

“Indeed.” Rarity stepped forward with a displeased look on her face. “And while I’m glad that you didn’t outright accuse us of taking on that identity, the fact that you’re clearly ashamed of having done so says a great deal. Regardless, your behavior during all of this and your reaction to Mare Do Well has been rather appalling. You’ve been acting like some spoiled, immature foal desperate for attention.” 

Rainbow almost protested that, but instead quietly turned to Fluttershy and asked, “Have I?”

The yellow pegasus somberly nodded. “Yes, you have.”

“Like we were sayin’, there ain’t nuthin’ wrong with bein’ proud’a yerself, or helpin’ folks. Ain’t nopony who’d fault ya for it, neither. But after a while, we were startin’ to worry about _why_ you were doin’ it.” 

Rainbow Dash turned shamefaced as she tried to sit up. “It wasn’t about attention. Not at first, anyway. But that attention felt really good, and…” She bowed her head for a moment, then raised it again. “But why didn’t you guys just come to be about this before now?”

Twilight turned sad as she asked, “Would you have listened, after being on an attention high like that?”

The prismatic pegasus huffed. “Good point.” She looked them over as she admitted, “I don’t know why Mare Do Well decided to show up here and now, but I don’t think that matters. You guys must be mad as Tartarus with me.” 

Fluttershy frowned. “No, more disappointed than anything.” 

“Yeah, can’t blame you.” Dash turned around and mumbled, “Sorry guys. I need to be alone for a little bit.”

As her friend exited the shop and flew off, Twilight frowned. “It’s a good thing we really aren’t Mare Do Well, otherwise we’d be in really deep trouble right now.” 

“Does raise the question of who it is under that mask.” Applejack looked among her friends as she explained, “Dash was probably right, an’ it’s more’n one pony, but somethin’ tells me we won’t ever know who they are.”

“And a part of me fears that the townsponies will simply forget all of this once Mare Do Well disappears for a while.” At her friend’s glances, Rarity explained, “What? I can’t be the only one who notices that we occasionally have rather short memories regarding certain topics.” 

“Maybe in this case it’s for the best, but hopefully, Rainbow Dash won’t let anything go to her head again.” She then frowned and turned to Rarity and Applejack. “Now, as far as Trixie goes…”

-

“‘Dear Princess Celestia, I wish I could say I learned this lesson in a better way, but I didn’t. These last few days, I’ve been riding high on being a hero, only for all of that to go away once somepony else came along, somepony in a mask and cape. I got so caught up in my envy over not being everypony’s hero anymore that I ended up accusing my friends of trying to upstage me, and it’s gonna be a long time before they forgive me for that. It’s great to be good at something, but not so much when you rub it in everyone’s faces, and there’s no shame in admitting when someone else is better than you. Your loyal and very ashamed subject, Rainbow Dash’.” The stone-faced unicorn stallion looked up from the letter at the four ponies standing in line before him. “It seems we’ve had another deviation from what we were told would happen. Five times so far FROWN has failed to follow what we were told would be the normal progression of events, but fortunately, we have salvaged the situation well enough. Harmony is restored.”

Rainbow Dash, as it turned out, had been right – more than one pony had played the role of Mare Do Well. Four mares stood before the stallion, all identical in their costumes. As one, they turned about and marched out of the room, heading single-file along a hallway into a changing room, where they each removed their outfits and set them aside. The costumes would be burned, and records of the incident would be set aside and locked away, likely never to be seen again. As for the ponies themselves, none outside of the agency’s highest levels would know their identities. They were invisible, unseen, as easily forgotten and dismissed as déjà vu, and as they filed out of the room, nopony who passed by paid them any mind. 

None noticed their glazed-over expressions. It was a common sight, after all, and not worth any notice. 

The four ponies made their way out of the nondescript building in Canterlot, and broke off. One in particular made her way to Restaurant Row, and her arctic blue eyes regained focus just as a pair of voices called out to her. 

“Bonnie!”

“Auntie Bon-Bon!”

Sweetie Drops felt as though she was waking up from a dream, then smiled to greet the two ponies rushing towards her. “Hey you two! Glad you could make it!” She hugged the smallest of the two tight and smiled. “You ready for our big day in Canterlot, Twist?”

The frizzy-maned little filly beamed. “Uh-huh! And I can’t wait to tell you about everything that’th happened in Ponyville while you were away!”

Lyra laughed. “Yeah, it’s been a crazy week.”

The candy mare sighed. “I’m sorry that I missed it. All my time here in Canterlot feels like it’s gone by in a haze, but that’s all the more reason to have some fun with the two of you.” She grinned and offered, “So come on, let’s get started with a nice meal.”

The three ponies laughed and made their way through the city. The topic of Mare Do Well would turn up, but it would soon be forgotten, and Agent Sweetie Drops of SMILE would be none the wiser about her role in it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The original episode, written by Merriweather Williams, is one of the most controversial in the show's run. So controversial, in fact, that the writers are hesitant to talk about it even years after it aired. The lesson itself isn't bad, that the safety of others is more important than one's own ego, but the way it was presented, coupled with the stupid actions taken by the characters, have hurt it. And yes, I'm understating things.
> 
> A lot went into this one, and there were other alternatives. One initial idea was that Twilight would try to calmly talk Rainbow Dash down, only for Dash to piss Twilight off by accident (likely by accidentally insulting Shining Armor) and lead to her spearheading the Mare-Do-Well campaign, but I decided that doing so would be out of character for Twilight, so that was put aside. Another version was closer to this, where Rainbow Dash's confrontation with the rest of the Mane Six would've been far more aggressive on her end, but I opted to tone it down. Another idea that only occurred to me after I'd finished this (and discussed it with Final Legend Zero) was for Mare-Do-Well to not even become a thing, and for Twilight to save Cherry Berry and lead to pretty much the same outcome. In many ways, I like that idea more, though this version at least gives me the chance to set things in motion on another plot thread to come.


	8. Q&A, Part Two

“Here we go again, everyone.” The chatter surrounding him died down as Quiver Quill prepped another set of flashcards and took in the gathered ponies and humans. “Time for another Q and A session…” He paused as his sight came upon a trio of outrageously-dressed teenage girls, each one with a ruby pendant about their necks, and his eyes narrowed dangerously. “What are you three doing here? Your story isn’t even finished, much less posted.”

Adagio Dazzle smirked from her seat as she treated the folding chair no differently from a throne. “Loopholes, stallion. The story might not be up yet, but there’s previews out for it.” She gave him a seductive glance and added, “Anything else you’d like to say about that?”

A steel blade found itself a hair’s breadth away from her nose, and the siren turned to see Sunrunner glaring at her. “Watch yourself, Twiggy. It’s not too late for you to get retconned out of existence.” 

A terrified gasp went up from one of the other sirens. “Oh no! I don’t wanna get retconned! I’m too adorable to get retconned!”

Aria Blaze raised an eyebrow at her blue-haired associate’s protest. “Do you even know what the word ‘retcon’ means?”

“No,” Sonata Dusk whimpered, “but I probably won’t like it!” 

Quiver cleared his throat. “Anyway, moving on. Our first set of questions comes from the reader ‘Comickook’, and are directed to Princess Celestia.” He turned to the Princess of the Sun and asked, “First, ‘considering your experience with other universes, have you ever been curious as to the possibility of a universe where you actually managed to successfully get through to Sunset _before_ she left Equestria and you were able to train both her _and_ Twilight side-by-side?’”

The alicorn took on a sad expression as her gaze went to her two most recent personal students. “I’ll admit, the thought has crossed my mind on more than one occasion. And I do like to think there was at least one world where no mistakes were made, where everything went right, and Sunset not only remained in Equestria but could well have become another surrogate older sister to Twilight, much as Cadance did. Unfortunately, due to many mistakes on my part, that didn’t happen in our version of events.” She bowed her head and added, “More’s the pity.”

The stallion nodded. “Second, ‘considering Twilight had five ponies in her study group, do you think it would have been possible for you to gently encourage Twilight to gradually develop real friendships with them that, if developed properly, would allow them to activate the Elements of Harmony years before Nightmare Moon returned? I mean, yes, they’re all unicorns and there might be some sort of unknown rule that the Element Bearers have to have fair representation from all three tribes. But if there is such a rule, I sure as heck don’t know about it.’” He looked up and asked, “Is there such a rule?”

Luna rolled her eyes. “In all truth, we have no more control over who gets chosen to bear a particular Element than we do over…well, the few natural forces that are beyond ponies’ control. ‘Tis a miracle that I and my sister were able to wield them against Discord.”

The draconequus in question rolled his eyes as he juggled tacos, much to Sonata’s rapt attention. “From your perspective, anyway.” 

“We’re veering off-topic.” Celestia sat up and explained, “There’s every chance that Twilight’s classmates at the School for Gifted Unicorns could have become bearers of the Elements of Harmony, had the circumstances been right. With that being said, however, friendships are something that occur naturally, on their own, and Twilight could have just as easily ignored my gentle encouragement to focus upon her studies.” The lavender alicorn took on an ashamed expression at that admission as her mentor continued, “A potentially infinite number of factors led to Twilight and her friends being in the right place at the right time, and I’ve no way of knowing how things could have gone otherwise.” 

Quiver nodded and read off the final question. “And three, ‘Why didn’t you send Cadance to Ponyville instead of Twilight? Mind you, Twilight does a pretty good job (_most_ of the time)…’”

“Most?” Twilight whimpered. 

“Their words, not mine.” Quiver then continued the question. “‘…But it seems to me that the Alicorn of Love would be a pretty good candidate for bearer of the Element of Magic. After all, the Element of Magic is _also_ the Element of Friendship and what is love but merely friendship intensified? Again, this is _not_ meant as a complaint concerning Twilight’s performance (which is quite good the considerable majority of the time), but merely asked out of pure curiosity.” 

Celestia nodded. “Well, for starters, ‘Magic’ and ‘Friendship’ are not interchangeable, and nor are they meant to be. A true friendship, built from the virtues represented by the Elements, creates a powerful magic all its own, but one does not need friendship to levitate a ball, nor magic to form a bond with another pony.”

“Second, love isn’t an intensified form of friendship.” Cadance sat up and explained, “Love binds ponies together, yes, and the two things are very close, but they are _not_ the same thing. Finally, I wasn’t sent to Ponyville because I wasn’t the right pony for that job. Twilight was.”

“Indeed. Nightmare Moon would have been a greater danger had Cadance been present instead of Twilight.” Luna frowned as she admitted, “The perception of rejection is one thing, but the perception of outright replacement is another entirely. Twilight’s odds of success were far greater than Cadance’s were, if only because Nightmare Moon was more likely to underestimate her, and less likely to kill her on the spot or banish her to the Moon.”

Pinkie raised a hoof. “And that would be bad either way.” 

General murmurs of agreement went up before Quiver noted, “Okay then, moving on. This question comes from Mugen Kagemaru, who asks Pinkie Pie…” The stallion went pale as he asked, “‘What’s in the cellar, and has Rainbow Dash ever been down there?’”

“Oh she’s been…!” The realization struck the party pony as she took on a quiet, sober tone. “Is…is that a ‘Cupcakes’ question?” Her mane deflated as she turned sad. “What kind of sad, ill person comes up with a story like that? I don’t kill things and turn them into cupcakes! I’m crazy about making people happy, not about making them dead!” 

Her human counterpart took her into a comforting hug. “We know that, Pinkie. Anyone who’s into torture porn really needs therapy. And maybe medication.”

“Yeah, definitely meds.” Rainbow Dash got comfortable as she added, “And hopefully that’s the last of questions like that. We don’t need anyone asking Fluttershy about her shed…”

“I don’t have one!” the yellow pegasus protested.

“Or me about…” The prismatic pegasus noticed the frown on Quiver’s face and whimpered, “Oh no…”

“First question from FinalLegendZero for Rainbow Dash. ‘What are rainbows made of in the Quiververse?’”

The athlete facehoofed and grumbled, “Not dead ponies, that’s for sure.” She sighed and admitted, “Look, a lot of stuff goes into making rainbows, but mostly water and magic. The exact stuff is kind of a secret, but it definitely doesn’t involve anypony getting killed.”

“Thank the Maker for that.” The stallion turned back to the elder alicorn and continued, “The remaining questions from him are for you, Princess Celestia, and come from honest curiosity. These aren’t trick questions or veiled accusations.” 

The princess sighed in relief. “Very well. Ask away.” 

Quiver cleared his throat. “‘First, when was it that you started to transition Equestria’s government from Rule of Alicorn to Rule of Law, and what was it that convinced you to do so?”

A nod. “The transition began shortly after Luna was taken by the Nightmare and transformed into Nightmare Moon. Further details shall be elaborated upon later, but for now, I’ll say that I feared that absolute power would corrupt me absolutely, and leave it at that.” 

“Alright. ‘Second, I know that you’re one of the few Celestias across the multiverse honest enough to not style yourself as a goddess, but are there any groups that worship you and/or the other alicorns in your version of Equestria despite this?’”

Celestia bowed her head. “Regrettably, yes. For a brief time during my period ruling Equestria alone, there were several cults that came to worship me as a goddess. I had to resort to very drastic steps to demonstrate how incorrect they were in their beliefs, but I was nonetheless successful. One reason I’m glad that there are four of us now, with potentially more on the way, is that you’re far less likely to view something as divine if you see it walking down the street every day.” 

“And that’s assuming you aren’t blind to their faults and failings.” 

The princess nodded at Sunrunner’s summation before Quiver continued, “Next come questions from diablo4000. They ask, ‘what the heck Applejack was thinking when she said the lesson she learned after beating Flim and Flam was that she was right all along.’” At the farmpony’s sharp expression of protest, he continued, “And he goes on to say, ‘Maybe in truth it’s stop being stubborn, don’t let pride trick you in a bet that involves land that was given to your family by a goddess and let others help you. Did she get in big trouble for that and did her family as well?’”

Celestia raised a hoof before the Apples could chime in. “First of all, as previously stated, _not_ a goddess.”

“Second a’ all, Ah wuz the one who took that bet with those swindlers, not Applejack.” Granny Smith narrowed her eyes. “Blame where blame’s due.” 

“An’ finally, the lesson was that quality speaks for itself, an’ that you shouldn’t be afraid to call on your friends an’ family when ya need help.” Applejack took on a smug look as she noted, “An’ hard work is always better’n takin’ shortcuts with some fancy gadget.” She noticed the glare on Quiver’s face. “What?”

“You and I are going to have a talk about that, but it’s not going to be here and now.” The stallion cleared his throat and continued on. “The next question is for Twilight. ‘What the heck were you thinking trying to perform a reformation spell on Discord, given the hypocrisy involved? Discord was considered evil for turning ponies into the opposite of themselves against their wills, yet it’s okay for you do to the same to him?’ And he goes on to elaborate on the potential consequences of such an act backfiring given Discord’s powers and abilities.”

“Oh my, what a pertinent question.” Discord gave the lavender alicorn a toothy grin. “And I must say, that was horribly hypocritical of you. Then again, you do have a tendency towards mental manipulation, so I can’t really say…”

Fluttershy quietly cleared her throat. “Discord, you’re being mean.”

Twilight had a foul expression on her face as she answered. “Yes, that was horribly hypocritical of me. But I was frightened and desperate, and as much as I trusted Fluttershy, and still do, I had little confidence in her ability to reform Discord through her own devices. Discord was unrepentant for his previous actions.” 

“And still is.” Applejack noted with a glare towards the draconequus.

“And yes, that doesn’t justify the use of mind-altering magic on my part. But like I said, frightened and desperate.” Twilight took a deep breath. “I’d elaborate further, but something tells me that would fall into spoiler territory for future stories.”

“That it would.” Quiver moved on to the next question. “Finally, he poses the HHHNNNGGHH Challenge to everyone and everypony present, to see if they can withstand high levels of cuteness and feels. His words, not mine.” He shrugged. “I don’t think anyone has a problem with that, do you?”

General murmurs of agreement sounded as Sweetie Belle chirped, “If you believe a certain hippogriff, I might have given them some resistance to that sort of thing, though.” 

“Probably not all of us,” whimpered the human version of Rarity.

Sonata raised a hand. “Question! Will it include pictures of penguins?” Heads turned to her as she asked, “What? Penguins are adorable!” She then gave a toothy grin and added, “Like me!” 

Quiver grinned. “You do have a point.” He continued on as Sonata clapped gleefully. “Finally, some questions from one Scholarly-Cimmerian. First, for Princess Twilight – ‘One thing I’ve often been curious about is how you got into the Daring Do series of books. Some stories I read have your mother as an editor for A. K. Yearling, and that’s where the introduction to the series began. Does that hold true in this universe as well, or was it simply because you just liked books in general that much?’”

“Oh!” Twilight giggled. “Well, I can confirm that my mom is the editor for the Daring Do series in this storyline, yes. I thought that had been mentioned already, in fact. As for my actual introduction, well, during her editing, my mother would read the polished drafts of the first book to me before bedtime. Testing the waters with a young reader never hurt, after all.” 

Quiver laughed and continued, “Their next question is also for Twilight. ‘What are your current thoughts on Trixie Lulamoon? Do you consider the hatchet buried, so to speak?’”

“Truthfully, that might be a better question for Trixie.” Twilight smiled and admitted, “For my part, however, the only issues I had with Trixie were the actions she committed while in possession of the Alicorn Amulet. Between her apology and the actions she’s taken since, I’m content to forgive her.”

Applejack rolled her eyes. “Speak for yerself, Twi. Ah’m still a touch sore over all that.”

“Well I’ve forgiven her at least. She certainly didn’t have to return to Ponyville in order to aid us when I was possessed by the Nightmare.” Rarity held a hoof to her mouth. “Oh dear. Does that count as a spoiler?”

“Only if they haven’t seen the timeline.” The stallion then continued on. “The next question is for Spike. ‘What got you into comic books? I ask because I’m a big fan of superhero stories myself.’”

“Awesome!” At Quiver’s raised eyebrow, Spike chuckled. “Sorry. More to the question, I guess.”

“Yep. ‘Was it on your own, or did you discover comics thanks to someone else, like Shining Armor? Apologies to Twilight, but I can’t ever see her as interested in such a thing as comics.’”

Twilight’s ears drooped as she whimpered, “Well in my defense, there’s so much literature available that doesn’t count as a comic book to go through.”

Spike rolled his eyes with a grin. “Yeah, you can pretty much thank Shining Armor for getting me into comics, and comics for getting me into reading in general. And don’t be too hard on Twilight – the Power Ponies series is relatively new, at least in Equestria.” 

“Relatively new in the human world too, FYI,” the human Rainbow Dash chimed in. “And pretty much an affectionate parody of other hero teams like the Justice League and the Avengers, though something tells me they won’t get a movie anytime soon.” 

“If they do, I hope it’s more like the latter than the former.” Quiver cleared his throat and continued on. “Next question’s for the pony CMC. ‘I apologize for the heavy question, but in light of recent events, I do want to ask – where exactly do you stand on Diamond Tiara?’”

The three fillies looked between themselves before Apple Bloom spoke up. “Well, findin’ out how bad her mom was did make us a little more sympathetic. But that don’t really excuse her callin’ us blank flanks for so long.”

“Or calling me a cripple.” Scootaloo sourly noted.

Sweetie Belle nodded. “Or everything with Gabby Gums or any other trouble she’s caused us.”

Their unofficial leader nodded. “Basically, we’ve accepted her apology, but we’re mostly takin’ things day by day fer now.” 

Quiver nodded. “And one last question for Sunset Shimmer and the Rainbooms. ‘This is me being facetious, and I do apologize for joking about the matter, but I just have to know – exactly how sick are you of hearing about the Anon-A-Miss debacle?’”

The six teenagers groaned almost in unison as the human Applejack explained, “Probably ‘bout as sick as the author is a’ seein’ crazy Anon-A-Miss stories an’ scenarios.”

“Yeah, no one enjoys being reminded of how much they screwed up, especially when it was no one’s fault but their own and no one lets them forget about it.” The human Rainbow Dash frowned as she noted, “Needless to say, we’re gonna be a little more sensitive about the Fall Formal from here on.” 

“And I appreciate that.” Sunset sighed. “Still, I’m glad that some have allowed us to move on, even if others haven’t.” 

Quiver frowned. “Too many of the latter for my liking.” He put aside the questions and concluded, “That’s it for now. We look forward to further questions come the next session, though there’s no guarantee that’ll come next year.” 

“Yeah, we might wanna wait until we pass the twenty-story mark before we do another’a these things.” Applejack grinned. “More material fer the readers to work with an’ all.”

Quiver nodded. “Couldn’t have said it better.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My thanks again to everyone who submitted questions. Another installment meant to pick up loose ends from this one has also been written, and will be posted with time.


End file.
